Story 2 of the Finals: Life
by shegal92
Summary: Change is in the air as Hego proposes to War Hawk and Shego unexpectantly becomes a mother. But Shego's past is coming back to haunt her and Kim will have to decide between helping her new friends or her life.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I own the characters you don't see in the t.v. series. Or Vanessa Carlton's "Paint it Black". That easy.

Okay, here it goes. I've been planning for over two years for this story but have never gotten around to it. I hope you like it.

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**On an Abandoned Island, Somewhere In Hawaii**

"...I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes, I have to turn my head until my darkness grows..." A cd player echoed through the lair.

A woman was bathing in the molten lava of an active volcano deep in its center. All visible out of the glowing orange liquid were two pale arms ending in fingernails painted black, a pale head with dark closed eyes, and long black hair with red streaks and orange tips. A phone rang somewhere down a dark corridor.

"Fuego, Incendie, fetch!" she snapped. Obediantly, she heard the sound of claws scraping against stone as they raced for the phone.

"...I see people turn their heads and quickly look away, like a newborn baby it just happens every day..." Fuego came up, the phone clutched in his flaming jaws.

"Good boy," she praised, scratching him behind the ears. She took the phone from him and put it to her ear.

"What do you want?" She snapped. Her muscles eased.

"Oh, it's you, Tigie. What's up?...Ooohh, sounds like fun. And Art Fart?" She grinned. "Sounds wicked. I'm in," she hung up.

"...I wanna see it painted painted black oh baby, I wanna see it painted painted black oh baby..."

**An Undisclosed Technology Lab; Toyko, Japan**

"It's perfect," Dr. Mirokusho declared, looking at the robot. It looked exactly like a human being.

However, his associate was not as pleased.

"No, not quite. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something missing," she stared at the robot, running her fingers through her dark brown hair with a wave. She was beautiful, Dr. Mirokusho thought, the most beautiful thing ever. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She smirked at this, pulling away from him.

"I'm sorry; I wasn't given the parts for that,"

"What do you mean by that?" he laughed. Grinning, the woman's blue eyes pulled into her head like another pair of eyelids. Glowing red eyes stared at him. Like any sane person would do, he ran for his life out of the engineering room. The woman laughed.

"Gets them every time," she said aloud. Creep. She heard her cellphone go off and flipped it open.

"Dr. Joelle Johnston...Hilary? I didn't know you had this number...No, I just didn't know...I thought Shego went bad several years back...Oh really? And my chicken?...I guess I'll go along for the ride...Mmm, hmm, just leave Chicken to me."

**Queens, New York**

"No one respects magicians anymore, huh, Big Al?" A blonde woman with a New York accent carried her hat upside down, her wand under one arm, closing her apartment door behind her. She set both props on the counter.

"Go to Queens, you'll meet lotsa hot bachelors...they never tell ya they laugh at aspiring female magicians who ain't assistants," she sighed, pulling her albino rabbit out of her black hat. She stroked him, flipping on the t.v. Big Al set contently on his master's lap, nibbling at the carrot that was sliding out of her sleeve.

"Looks like another night of 5 o'clock gossip they call news, just you 'n me, thinking about the days _we_ made the healines," As though reading her mind the phone rang. She cleared her throat and answered it.

"Marloe the Magnificent, making your birthday magical, how may I help you?...Shut your yap, pussycat, I'm still doin' community service...Yeah, it's that bad an' I'm bored to tears with this crap...Snakie, you say? Man, I'd love to pull a little black magic on her...Give me the coordinates an' me an' Big Al will be on the next plane," Big Al, hearing this, grinning, exposing his abnormally razor sharp teeth.

**In the Austrailian Outback**

"That'll teach you to mess with me," she muttered, lowering her shot gun. She wasn't going to see that again, whatever it was.

She went back inside her cave, her dirty blonde hair braided down to her hips. Her skin was well tanned by the Austrailian sun. She was a lone wolf, never living in one place too long, never keeping a possession past necessity. The gun itself was useless now; she had "found" it in an "abandoned" camp but hadn't found further ammunition. Not that anyone had to know it wasn't loaded, she thought, seeing a figure waiting for her.

"Nomadia, you must be the only woman in the whole world who doesn't have a cellphone. Not that you would get reception out in the middle of this wasteland," it commented. Nomadia relaxed.

"Tigress, you know cellphones are nothing more than beneficial tracking devices to the government or other interested parties," Tigress shrugged.

"I'm getting the seniors back together for one last try at Go Team and Company. Interested?"

"I haven't seen Sheila in ages!" she cried, laughing.

"Or Golden Arrow," Tigress purred. Nomadia's face fell, as Tigress knew it would.

**A "Haunted" Island in the Carribbean**

"Shego, he's going to do it," Was the first thing Shego heard when she picked up the phone. It was War Hawk.

"How do you know? We've hoped so many times before..."

"Oh no, it's tonight. You know how I have that charity gymnastics competition in Denver?"

"Yeah?" The door opened and closed.

"He's got reservations to the most expensive restaurant in Colorado."

"Oh, he is so going to. Hang on, I've got another call coming in."

"Shego..." Drakken called timidly, almost guiltily.

"Not now, Drakken. Hello?"

"Shego, I need you to get to Denver pronto," Shego straightened.

"Hego? Why?" There was a deep breath on the other end of the line.

"I'm proposing to Chloe tonight and it has to be perfect. You're the expert on that, aren't you?" Shego ignored the sarcasm.

"Hang on a minute, Hego," she switched back to War Hawk before he could object.

"It's Hego on the other line. He's going for it."

"OhmygoshohmygoshohmygoshwhatamIgoingtodo?"

"Don't panic. Wear that purple evening gown you have; he loves it and you look great in it. I've got to go; Hego needs coaching."

"'Kay, I'll try to act surprised," Shego hung up War Hawk's call.

"Shego, if I hypothetically found a baby kitty wandering in a back alley of the Black Market, could I keep it?"

"Fine, whatever, Drakken, but I am not caring for it. Hego, you still there?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, take deep breaths, don't do anything stupid, scratch that don't do anything until I get there. If I'm not there by the time you get to the restaurant, then go on without me. You must propose tonight," she hung up and collapsed. Her oldest brother was proposing to her best friend. Half of her was estatic that her best friend was going to be her sister-in-law, half of her cringed at the thought of her little brother having kids with her best friend. That was hopefully somewhere far in the future. "So, Drakken, what's this about a kitten?"

"I heard Deseerah mewing and found her alone in the alley. She's too young to be off her mother's milk, I think," he said.

"You named it already?" Shego groaned.

"Mew," Deseerah said before jumping onto Shego's lap. Shego looked down at it. It wasn't just any tabby. It had Tigress's dark brown eyes. It had Tigress's red, silky hair. Sure, it looked like a kitten, with black stripes against yellow fur, but it was more than a kitten. It was part human and her worst enemy's daughter.

Drakken heard Shego's scream. It wasn't angry; it was scared.

"GET RID OF IT IT'S GOING TO KILL ME!" Drakken rushed out, a bottle of milk in his hand. She glared at him, now both angry and scared.

"Shego, Deseerah's just a baby."

"It's a liger, Drakken. A liger fused with human DNA."

"A DNAmy experiment. Nothing worth fussing over," Shego looked down at Deseerah. It was mewing up at her innocently, her tail twitching back and forth. She couldn't tell Drakken where the kitten had come from; Tigress would definetely kill her then. Drakken handed her the bottle, "Feed her. You'll see how harmless she is, despite her lion and tiger blood."

Shego sat down and Deseerah climbed onto her lap. She took one arm and wrapped it around Deseerah. She was tiny, Shego thought, positioning the bottle. Deseerah took it eagerly and vigorously drank. Her miniature human-like hands grasped it, the small claws digging into the plastic. She pulled the bottle as she cuddled down into Shego's arm. That was cute, but Shego was going to the internet as soon as Drakken went to bed. Surely someone would want her and would care for her better than she would.

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I know, it's short. It's more of a prologue than a chapter 1. The chapters will get longer and more detailed though, I promise.


	2. The news

Disclaimer: I own the characters you don't see in the t.v. series. That simple.

Shego opened her eyes as the sunlight streamed through her window. Beside her head on the pillow was Deseerah, curled up in a tight ball. When Tigress slept, her body was usually sprawled out as far as it could go. Maybe Deseerah wasn't like Tigress, even though she looked so much like her. Shego began stroking her fur. Drakken had found her in an abandoned alley, right? That obviously meant Tigress didn't want her that bad. If she posted a description of Deseerah on Craig's List or something, Tigress may come after her.

Deseerah stretched as she woke up, her pink sandpaper tongue curling up as she yawned. She looked sleepily at Shego.

"Mew," she demanded. Shego shrugged.

"Sorry, I don't speak Cat-anese," she said.

"Mew," Deseerah tried again. Shego stretched out, her front towards Deseerah. Taking it as an open invitation, Deseerah waddled down and tried to chew through Shego's shirt. Shego, feeling sharp teeth, looked down at her chest.

"Oh no, kitty! I don't know about Tigress, but these wells are dry!" Shego pulled Deseerah away, dropping her gently on the pillow.

"Mew!" She protested.

"I get it, you're hungry. Let's go down and get you some milk," Deseerah trotted behind Shego obediantly, occasionally pouncing at nothing or skipping for a few paces.

Drakken didn't expect to see Deseerah still in the lair, due to Shego's obvious dislike of the adorable blessing. Least of all did he expect to see Deseerah pressed up against Shego's leg purring so hard she was shaking, Shego squeezing a few drops of milk out of a bottle onto her wrist.

"You're even testing the milk temperature for her? You, the girl who flunked out of human developement because she kicked her robotic baby into high traffic fifteen minutes after she got it, the girl who ate her egg baby for breakfast-"

"You're never talking to my friends again; you learn too much," she picked up Deseerah. Deseerah drank contently, feeling safe and warm within the strangely shaped, short frontlegs of a female who made the weird noises her mother had.

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In a year, Kim's life had been twisted into a direction she never thought possible. She was living in a dorm room at Richmond University in London, England. Her best friends, practically sisters, were her nemesis and her best friends. They protected her and guided her and there was always someone there for advice or support. Ron, he had been good support, but he didn't get her as a girl.

That brought up the painstaking new truth; she had just broken up with Ron. She knew she had devestated him, but their lives were going in two different directions. They would always be friends, she hoped, just not lovers. She walked into Shego's lair (so strange how she referred to it to Shego's instead of Drakken's nowadays).

"Kim, what are you doing here?" She asked.

"Like you don't know," Kim laughed. Shego thought a minute, and then slowly shook her head.

"No, care to clue me in?"

"You stole something. Wade called me after you did," Shego shook her head.

"Wiz kid's wrong. Drakken and I have been so busy with Deseerah, I'm not even sure if he's thought about taking over the world."

"Deseerah?" Shego looked around and then leaned close to Kim.

"Tigress's daughter. Drakken found her in a back alley of the Black Market."

"Why would Tigress abandon her when she's trying to repopulate her own kind?" Shego shrugged.

"Beats me. I don't like the sound of this, though,"

"You've got that right. Kidnappings, violence, all related to you and Shego," A woman stepped out of the shadows.

"Dr. Director!" They both exclaimed; Kim out of surprise, Shego out of dread.

"Hello, Kim. Shego, it's been awhile," Not long enough, Shego thought.

"You know Dr. Director?" Kim asked. Somehow, Kim still couldn't see farther back into Shego's past than when they first met.

"She was on GJ's payroll for a long time until you replaced Team Go," Shego glared at Dr. Director.

"I needed a job, one that didn't interfere with my, uh, personal life," she muttered, embarrassed. She replaced Team Go? Kim wondered. Wouldn't Shego have said something if she had?

"I put the fake report in that said Shego had stolen something to get you two together," Dr. Director admitted.

"Why?" Shego snarled.

"It seems as though the seniors are coming out of retirement," Dr. Director said quietly. Shego's hands balled into fists.

"The Seniors? Why would you need both of us to take them down?" Kim laughed.

"She's not talking about the billionaire wanna-be villains, Kim. She's talking about my upperclassmen. They were seniors while we, me and the others in our group besides you, were freshmen, hence the divisional names. We were just becoming big as a superhero team and wham, four new, older villainesses came from out of the blue. That year was pure heck," Shego rubbed at her temples.

"For the both of us. Most of our staff were murdered and our equiptment destroyed," Dr. Director added, giving weight to the threat.

"There must be a ring leader," Shego decided. Dr. Director nodded.

"We've been tracing calls on the seniors' cellphones. It seems your good friend Tigress is behind it all," Shego grimaced. Dr. Director broke eye contact, "You haven't heard from your brothers, have you?"

"A few days ago from Hego about proposing to War Hawk, that's it. Why?" Dr. Director took a deep breath.

"I shouldn't be telling you this, since your mother and friends were sworn to secrecy, but I feel as a sister you should know."

"What's wrong?" Kim's voice trembled. Shego grabbed Dr. Director by the shoulders.

"Where are my brothers?" She hissed.

"Hego's fine, not a hair out of place. The twins have been attacked and were being held at the hospital just in case, but it's nothing too serious."

"And Mego?"

"He's in ICU with 1st degree burns over 60 of his body. The hospital has released no further information. I'm sorry," Shego let go of Dr. Director and darted up the stairs.

"Shego!" Kim ran after her, not catching up until they were at the top.

"Shego!"

"What?"

"Where are you going?"

"To get the keys from Drakken," she huffed, storming through Drakken's room.

Drakken froze, his finger hovering above Deseerah. Deseerah had her hands holding on, pulling at his glove with her teeth. She was cute, but looked too much like Tigress, Kim thought.

"What's wrong?" Drakken asked, directing it towards Kim.

"It's her brothers," Kim said. Shego grabbed the keys and went back out. Kim followed and behind her, Drakken came carrying Deseerah, whom was still pulling at his glove. Shego didn't realize her parade until she got to the UFO.

"If you really want to know how they are, I'll call you once I get there."

"No, Shego, we're coming with you," Drakken said. Deseerah mewed firmly to back him up.

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"Excuse me, could you tell me which room Mego's in?" The receptionist looked at Shego as though she was crazy. Shego was trying to be civil for once, though she felt like shooting anyone within a hundred mile radius. Drakken and Kim remained quiet.

"Shego!" The trio turned to see Golden Arrow, Artica, and Metaphor heading towards them. Golden Arrow hugged her, using it more as a restraining technique than comfort.

"Someone leaked, I take it," Metaphor said calmly. Artica eyed Drakken curiously.

"Is that a purse?" She asked, surpressing a laugh.

"No, purses are small. This is a bag," he gently tapped it. Deseerah shifted a little, but Artica didn't seem to notice. It was too hot to leave her in the car and hospitals weren't exactly fond of cats. Golden Arrow pulled away, convinced Shego wasn't going to hurt anyone.

"We were just about to go up to see him," she said.

"How are they?" Shego hated herself for the worry that crept into her voice.

"Mego's healing nicely. The doctors say he may be released as soon as in a week or two," Metaphor said. They started heading towards the elevator.

Kim glanced at Shego. She was scared but trying to cover it up with anger. She wondered how to comfort her, but couldn't think of anything.

They came to a waiting room where Hego, the twins, War Hawk, and another woman were sitting together. All their heads turned as they came in.

"Who leaked?" Hego asked.

"GJ," Shego muttered.

"Are you serious?" Hego snorted. Shego shrugged.

"Sisterly guilt, I guess," she immediately started looking over the twins. Drakken sat next to the woman Kim didn't recognize.

"Drew, why...?"

"I thought you, um, might need some support," he started blushing. The villainesses gave each other looks before sitting down.

"Shego, they've been checked out of the hospital. Doctors looked over them. Chloe's looked over them. You have no medical degree," Hego said. Shego, done checking Wego 1's arms for tenderness and his face for abrasions, pulled his head forward.

"Ow!" He shouted.

"Why's there a goose egg on the back of his head?" She demanded.

"The attacker must have caused it. He had a concussion when he was checked in," War Hawk said.

"Nomadia," Golden Arrow murmured, balling her hands into fists. Nomadia was known for head injuries and strangling. Shego began searching Wego 2.

"It was Tigress, I saw her," Wego 2 said quickly, concerned with being probed as hard as his brother.

"Those look like her claw marks," Shego agreed.

"Mew," Deseerah said, shifting around in the back. The woman arched an eyebrow.

"What do you have in there?"

"A baby liger fused with human DNA. I found it," he smiled. Shego stood up.

"Where's Mego?"

"Room H8." Hego said. Shego could have left a trail of fire behind her. Hego and Kim followed her. She was running for the room as though he'd die before she'd get there. She slowed down, pausing in the doorway. She glanced at Hego like a child scared to go on its own. She then crept gently in.

Kim could see from the doorway Mego was hooked up to a heart rate monitor, some sort of IV, and had a breathing mask over his face. Shego set down softly beside him on the bed. His eyelids fluttered open.

"Hey, Mego," she murmured. He blinked, his eyes on her, "How are you holding up?" She asked. He lifted his tube covered arm and shook his hand in a so-so sign. She smiled, "I figured. Still have your manhood?" His eyes widened. Shego rubbed at her face, "Sorry, sorry, I'm just trying to make light of the situation. So you don't even know if you still have-"

"Shego, get off the subject. They're fine," Hego cut her off. Shego's head fell into her hands. She laughed darkly.

"I just can't do anything right, can I?" It came out strangled. She stood up suddenly, "I've got to go, I just remembered something."

Shego jogged out, tears streaming down her face. Hego caught her and held her. She started sobbing.

"I'm such a horrible sister!" She said.

"No, Shego, no, you're a great sister..."

"If I'm such a great sister, why wasn't I there to save him?!" She said angrily. He stroked her hair.

"You can't protect us from everything," he murmured. They stood there a few minutes, holding each other until Shego's sobs subsided.

"I'm gonna kill her. I'm gonna track down Nightfire and kill her for what she's done to Mego," she said darkly.

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Hospitals were boring. She hadn't really been in one that long besides that one sunshine program. She passed the time talking to the other girls and flipping through year-old magazines, finding herself missing Ron. He would have entertained her. But she couldn't let herself think about him, or else she'd end up bawling like Shego.

It seemed Drakken had known the woman for a long time, who had turned out to be Shego's mother. They talked the entire time, just the two of them. Occasionally, when the hospital staff wasn't looking, he'd let Deseerah run around the room for a few minutes. Everyone immediately fell in love with her charming kitten ways, unknowingly playing with their worst enemy's daughter.

Hego came back into the room, fast food bags in hand.

"I brought dinner!" He sang. The villainesses groaned.

"Not Bueno Nacho!" Artica groaned. He started handing out the orders.

"War Hawk, you're going to be Mrs. Bueno Nacho, spokeswoman of the Bueno Nacho fast food chain, eating, sleeping, breathing and farting Mexican food," Metaphor said. War Hawk laughed.

"Doesn't matter to me. I love Hego besides his dedication to his job," she said, taking a bean and beef burrito. Theygo made a gagging noise.

"Shego's planning to spend the night," Hego said.

"In the hospital? She hates hospitals," Drakken said, feeding Deseerah bits of his chicken chimichanga.

"Not as much as she hates Mego being vulnerable," he said, leaving the waiting room. Theygo turned to Kim.

"You're not planning on driving back home tonight, are you?" Kim shrugged.

"I don't really have a choice. I didn't bring my purse with me."

"You can stay with us. As you've seen, we've got plenty of room and no, you're not intruding on us. That goes for you three, too," she indicated the villainesses. Golden Arrow shook her head.

"No thank you, Mrs. Go. My lair's closer to the hospital than the Go Tower."

"Ditto," Artica said.

"I have to get home to Simile," Metaphor said.

"I feel it would be very awkward if I-"

"Did I give you an option, Drew? No, you're staying. Your pilot skills are already bad enough and in the dark just spells trouble."

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Kim went into Mego's room for the first time right before they left for the Go Tower. Mego's hair was completely gone, covered by an angry red burn. There were burns all over him, but as Metaphor had said he was healing nicely. His head was resting on Shego's chest, whom was curled beside him protectively, frowning in her sleep. It was cute and made Kim realize how long it had been since she had seen her own brothers. What would she do in Shego's situation?

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Ron was bored. There was no place he fit in in Upperton. It was so...fancy. Except for the community college. There, he fit in, but that was it. Now he didn't even have Kim to talk to. Why had she broken up with him? He was more confused than heartbroken. He then noticed a black van. A blonde woman was folding up a table and putting away what seemed to be magic props.

"Check it out, Rufus!" Rufus popped out of Ron's pocket. The first thing he noticed was the albino rabbit sitting on the ground. He made a growling sound, but Ron was already running towards the woman.

"Excuse me, excuse me, is the magician still here?! Will he show me a few tricks, please, please, please?!" He shouted. The woman glared at him.

"I am the magician, you sexist pig," she muttered. Ron started jumping up and down.

"Please, please, please show me some tricks!"

"Fine. What's your name?"

"Ron, Ron Stoppable!" Her attention perked. She pulled a deck of cards out from behind her back.

"Pick a card, Mr. Stoppable," she said, fanning them out. He pulled one out, careful not to let her see.

"It's the Queen of Hearts, isn't it?"

"How'd you guess?"

"Can't tell you, magician's secret. Just drop the card on the ground," she said, straightening the deck. She clapped her hands together, swished it, and then opened her palms. The deck was gone. Ron clapped his hands excitedly. She pulled a white rose out of her sleeve.

"Take a whiff of this, Mr. Stoppable," she said. He sniffed at it and crumpled to the ground. She threw his unconscious body into the back.

"Come on, Big Al, our job here is done. You can eat that...whatever it is in his pocket," Big Al grinned, diving into the back.

The van pulled away, on its next stop in Go City.

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Whew! I finally finished! Sorry about the delay, my teachers think it's fun to stack things on me and watch me try to get them all done. Please review.


	3. A traitor amongst them

Disclaimer: I own the characters you don't see in the t.v. series. That simple.

Kim woke up this morning, first thinking she was in her dorm room. No, too warm. At home, but how'd she get there? She opened her eyes and realized she was in one of the Go Tower's many guest rooms. She heard voices coming from down the hall and decided to go check it out.

"Personally, I think Shego should go back to that little island lair and forget all about this," It was Hego. Kim tiptoed, peeking through a slightly opened door. Hego, the twins, War Hawk, Drakken, and Theygo were all standing in a room.

"She may have looked over Mischief's death, she's not going to forgive what happened to Mego and the twins," War Hawk said.

"Only she and God know why she didn't beat the pulp out of Tigress," Theygo muttered.

"I think Kim knows, too. Something's been different ever since she rode with Shego in the car, ever since that secret villainess meeting they had," Drakken said.

"She's grown up, turned into a woman like all girls do. But I don't think she should be here, either. She's never really dealt with villains of this breed and..." War Hawk trailed off.

"She's inexperienced about true evil. They'll kill her."

"Hego! You're acting as though she's never been a hero!" War Hawk scolded him.

"And to say it when she's listening," Theygo smirked, turning to Kim, "You can come in. This is an open discussion." Kim obeyed her.

"You have better luck taking over the world than changing Shego's mind," she said. The twins laughed.

"Isn't that the truth," Wego 1 said. Hego looked sincerely at Kim.

"You and Shego need to get out of here, you because of your inexperience and Shego... I'm surprised she even walked into this trap."

"Just because she left doesn't mean she doesn't care," War Hawk snapped. She turned to Kim, "I'm not saying you should stay. What Hego said was blunt, but has truth. We're not dealing with cartoon villains like Frugal Lucre or villains that won't kill you like Shego. You've seen Tigress; it could be worse," Kim shook her head.

"I promised," she said. War Hawk nodded. She was talking about the night they shared blood; they were blood sisters. They had promised her their loyalty and she had promised hers. Plus, she felt that they were making a bigger deal of these "seniors" than what trouble they were really worth.

&&&

"They have your boyfriend. And your family. Even that computer nerd," Artica told Kim. The villainesses had met up at the hospital with Shego. Shego had told them about Tigress, whom had broken into the hospital last night trying to finish off Mego. Surprised by Shego being there, she had been frightened off. Not a scratch on anyone. Artica then told of her discoveries she had made earlier that morning, when she had been messing with some new thermal DNA thingy she had bought from Hench Co. She knew exactly who was in their lair (how she found where their lair was was a mystery) and where, "They've cut off all your resources."

"GJ?" Hego inquired.

"Whole system's shot. They're not taking any chances," Artica looked to Shego. Kim could watch her chew over the information in her eyes.

"Your equiptment?" She asked. Artica grinned.

"Oh, not even Titania's as advanced as my security," she said proudly.

"What else do we have as far as resources?" Metaphor asked.

"I think that's it," Golden Arrow said curtly. Metaphor looked offended, but Golden Arrow refused to look at her. A tension rippled through Golden Arrow, Metaphor, War Hawk, and Artica, a tension Kim didn't understand.

"What's our plan?" Kim asked. As if something wrong had been said, the group scattered. Shego, Drakken, Hego and Kim looked at each other confusedly. This had come on suddenly.

&&&

"No, we'll think about a cookie if you eat your lunch first," Theygo told the twins. They groaned collectively and Theygo turned her attention to the tiny liger hidden in Drew's coat. Drew always had a luck that seemed to bring crazy, sometimes unbelievable, things to him. That luck rubbed off on whoever hung around him as long as she had. Sometimes she even blamed him for gaining her powers, though he had been no where near when she fell into that ocean. Feeding Deseerah her bottle reminded her of when Shego, Hego, Mego, the twins were little. Theygo loved babies, loved children, not crazy about teenagers, but loved them all the same. That love hadn't belonged in Yougo's world.

Golden Arrow approached Theygo, a scowl on her face.

"Mrs. Go, I don't know what to do," she sighed. Theygo looked at her.

"You can call me Theygo now that you're an adult, you know?"

"I can't, you're always going to be Mrs. Go," Golden Arrow worked up the courage to look into her yellow eyes, "Let's say there's a truth. A truth that everyone knows except for a few people. One of the few people has been believing a different truth for years. If you tell that person the truth, it'll devastate her but if you don't, then you could be putting lives in danger. What should you do?" Theygo looked down at Deseerah, who was starting to fuss.

"Well," Theygo said, gently resting Deseerah on her shoulder, her back open, "Sometimes you have to hurt someone in order to help them," Theygo pounded firmly on Deseerah's back. After a minute or two, Deseerah let out a loud belch. Theygo lowered her back down into her arms. Deseerah cooed gratefully.

"But what if the truth you know doesn't need to be told and you go and tell it and it turns out that she had only been a traitor in the past and had broken her ties to Tigress?" Golden Arrow blurted. Theygo looked evenly at her.

"Are you saying there's a traitor amongst us?"

"Potential traitor. Everyone knows who it is except for Shego and a few others like Kim and Drakken,"

"I say with stakes this high you have to not trust whoever and hope she understands."

&&&

"What on earth am I going to do?" Shego muttered, "Everyone Kim cares about was kidnapped. Mego looks like a piece of bacon. Hego...is being Hego and the twins shouldn't even be involved. My boss and my mom are hitting on each other. I have a freak baby and the only people I can trust are Hego, Drakken and you. If I screw up, someone's going to die," Shego leaned back in her green chair, turned towards War Hawk, who was sitting in Mego's chair.

"Hego's not only being Hego, he's being worse. It must really be gnawing at him that he's going to be working with the villainesses and Kim," she said. Shego nodded.

"Doesn't help that he has to worry about the wedding. Has he asked your dad's permission yet?"

"No, he's scared to death to," War Hawk was quiet for a minute, "I think you should give Kim a chance. Sure, she has no idea what she's getting herself into, but she's not going to leave," Shego sighed.

"You're right, as usual. We'll start training her tonight."

&&&

Kim wandered down the street, a map of Go City in her hands. She was supposed to go to some abandoned building that Shego had assumed she knew how to get to. Abandoned building should be on the outskirts somewhere, she reasoned, especially if she was supposed to find one of the seniors in said abandoned building. It was a quiet street; a car hadn't passed in Kim didn't know how long. She didn't even have an address. Kim pulled to the side as she saw a jogger pass by with two huge black dogs with stripes of red scattered randomly over their coat.

"Whoa! Fuego, Incendie, whoa!" She pulled back on their leashes. Kim could hear the heavy metal rock blasting from her earphones as she pulled them off her ears. She was hardcore punk, judging by her black shirt with fishnet sleeves, black lips, black nail polish, baggy well-worn jeans, and black Vans. Kim had to admit the red streaks in her long black hair were very cool.

"Lost?" She asked.

"Is it that obvious?" Kim winced. The girl laughed and nodded. One of the dogs snapped at Kim. Kim jumped back.

"Fuego, down!" She snapped. The dog obediantly went back to the other's side, "Boys, what ya gonna do with them? Anyway, where you heading?" Kim shook her head.

"I don't know. Some abandoned building."

"I think I know where you're going. Follow me," Kim's heart raced, but followed. What choice did she have if she wanted to prove she was a better hero than they imagined.

They veered away from any traffic, any streetlights, off towards the mountain range that cut Go City off from the rest of the world. This seemed a very likely place for a lair. Avarius's was up here as well as one Tigress had used. This girl seemed to know her way around Go City pretty well. Kim's heart raced. What if she wasn't trustworthy? What if Kim made a big mistake? The dogs seemed to notice Kim's change of heart. They began growling.

"I think you should listen to them, Nightfire. This girl makes Shego look like a poster child," A laugh came from out of the shadows.

"I know. Not only did she disobey the number one rule of stranger danger, don't talk to strangers, she followed me!" Nightfire laughed. Fuego and Incendie began chewing at their collars, and she yanked at their leashes.

"Stupid girl doesn't deserve to live," The voice turned into a body, a well-tanned blonde.

"I agree. I was just going to drop Fuego and Incendie off at the lair, let Kim think I was trustworthy, torture her for a few hours, and then let her die a slow and painful death," Kim was trapped, she realized as the blonde came closer. If she tried to run, they'd be one step ahead.

"She doesn't deserve that. Just kill the wretch, drop her body off at the Go Tower, and then head back."

"See, that's your problem, Nomadia. You just want to kill them and get it over with. You never think about how fun it would be to torture them a bit. Here, hold them; I thought I might need them but apparently I can just finish her off," Nomadia took the leashes, frowning. Nightfire pulled a whip out of her belt.

"If you think Shego's little green embers hurt, just you wait," The whip was dosed in gasoline, Kim could see. As she watched, fire went from Nightfire's hand down the length of the whip. She snapped it for emphasis.

"Don't you think you should get going now?" She purred. Kim got into a defensive position. The whip rose and Kim darted, aiming for Nightfire's legs. Nightfire danced out of the way, the whip kissing Kim's cheek as gently as fire can. Kim bit her tongue to keep from yelping. The dogs were getting riled up by the fighting. Nomadia shortened their leashes.

Kim got back up and ran towards Nightfire. Nightfire cracked the whip and Kim twisted away from its blazing path. She kicked at Nightfire's back, hoping to make her crumple. Nightfire didn't move an inch. The whip twisted around Kim, burning her deeper and deeper as the whip refused to recoil. Kim clenched her jaw and Nightfire laughed. She was just getting started.

However, Nomadia was already sick of the fight. If it was her, Kim would be dead. She fished her gun out of her belt and aimed. An arm wound around her neck and Nomadia found herself in a sleeper hold. She was about to shoot her attacker when the gun was kicked from her hand. Nomadia laughed.

"'Ello, Goldie. It's been awhile," Nomadia soon crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Realizing they no longer had a master, Fuego and Incendie broke loose. Kim watched helplessly as the dogs came running for her. Then, suddenly, they slipped on a patch of ice. Nightfire's eyes lit up and recoiled her whip from Kim.

"Yes! A real opponent!" She said joyfully.

"Any other night I'd be a fight to the death, but Shego's specific orders were to all come back alive."

"Aw, Art Fart, do you always do as Shego says?" Nightfire's whip soared through the air and met an ice shield. It melted to water. Artica squatted, jerking her leg out and bringing Nightfire down hard.

"Get Kim out of here," Artica told Golden Arrow. Kim felt the ground fall out from under her. She looked up to see Golden Arrow carrying her.

"I can walk," Kim insisted. Golden Arrow laughed.

"Don't be gone long, Artica, and try to come back with all your body parts intact," she called over her shoulder.

"I promise nothing," Artica called back.

&&&

Theygo looked out over the water from the roof of the Go Tower, the wind softly blowing her hair. She had spent so many hard days up here, alone. She heard the trapdoor open and scrambling noises, then the slam of the trapdoor.

"Am I disturbing you?" Drew asked. Theygo shook her head.

"No, I was just thinking," he came up beside her.

"About what?" Theygo grinned.

"That night," she said meaningfully. Drew blushed.

"Oh, that night," she laughed.

"You were such a gentleman about taking my virginity and loosing yours," Drew blushed even harder.

"Remember how hard we laughed?" He said sheepishly. Her body shook with laugher.

"Oh my gosh, we had no clue what we were doing!" She cracked up. He chuckled. Theygo wiped the tears away from her eyes, "It felt right, though."

"It wasn't, though. We were supposed to wait until marriage," he said solemnly. She looked at him.

"Are you saying you regret it?"

"No, I'm just saying it was a sin. Not that it wasn't right," she smiled wistfully. Destiny had brought them back together several times since, but he was just too shy, "I need to go see Mego," he said suddenly.

"Okay, then. It was nice bringing that up again," she said, laughing.

"I wish you wouldn't," he grumbled. Hego was waiting in his truck for him, Shego riding shotgun, the twins in the back. He sat in the back with them and together, they all drove to the hospital, the Gos wondering why Drakken was getting them all together and Drakken wondering if he could even bring himself to ask.

They all gathered around Mego's bed.

"What's this all about, Dr. D?" Shego snapped. Drakken's mouth felt dry, his palms sweating. He looked down at the ground.

"I was just, uh, it's that... I'm in love with your mother and I know it's only been a year since your father died but, uh, I was hoping with your permission, I could ask her to marry me," he peeked out of his peripheal vision. They looked shocked.

"Do you have a ring?" Wego 1 asked.

"Yes, um, but it's back at the lair. It was my grandmother's." There was a pause.

"I can't remember the last time I heard Mom laugh that hard or smile that much except for when she's around you," Shego said honestly. The twins and Hego nodded in agreement.

"You asking us shows a lot about your character," Hego said.

"I think it'd be cool to have a dad that actually plays with us," Wego 2 said.

"All in favor," Hego said dramatically.

"I," Shego was the first one to say.

"I," Hego followed closely.

"I!" The twins said in unison.

"I," Everyone turned to Mego, who hadn't said a word since he had been checked in. He gave Drakken a thumbs up.

Drakken bit his lip. He had the kids' permission...but now he had to actually propose.

&&&&&

One of my pet peeves is, besides having two-dimensional characters, Disney makes unrealistic characters. I know a few readers will be upset about the talk on the roof, but I think it shows that we all make mistakes (some of us more than others…) Please review.


	4. Another proposal and a shotgun

Disclaimer: I own the characters you don't see in the t.v. series. That simple.

"I can't believe you left Artica back there facing that, that pyromaniac," Kim stuttered, sure that Golden Arrow would have never taken such a chance. Golden Arrow shrugged.

"I'm hoping Artica will behave herself and knock her down before getting herself injured. I wouldn't have left her behind, except for I need to talk to you. But first, some aloe vera for those burns. Do you want anything else while I'm going in?" She pointed at the truck station she was pulling into.

"Some water would be nice, thank you," Golden Arrow parked and looked over at Kim's wounds. She gave a low whistle.

"Not even second degree burns. She was going to drag out your death for a long time. You're lucky Shego sent us after you," Golden Arrow got out and entered the truck station. Yeah, lucky. She felt like a complete idiot. Following a goth stranger with two massive hounds into a dark, desolate area? She had played into that trap. She looked out the window and found herself wondering about Ron. She had tried to avoid thinking about anyone since hearing they were all prisoners. Golden Arrow came out with a bottled water, aloe vera, and a Dr. Pepper. She gave the bottled water and aloe vera to Kim and opened the Dr. Pepper.

"Why hasn't Shego gone in yet?" Kim asked her, figuring she was higher up on the ladder than herself. Golden Arrow frowned.

"I'll tell you if you'll tell me something."

"What?"

"That kitten," Kim looked away.

"What about it?" She asked, taking a swig of water.

"Ligers fused with human DNA don't just wander in back alleys at night," Golden Arrow said. Kim coughed on her water. She cleared her throat.

"Well, uh..."

"If you lie to me, I'll lie to you right back," Golden Arrow warned.

"Shego's gonna kill me," Kim took a deep breath, "That's Tigress's daughter, the kitten. It's a long story."

"Tigress hates kids and where would she find a lion to...ew," Golden Arrow shivered, "It does look a lot like her, but nobody who knows Tigress would believe she'd get pregnant, not even on accident. I've lived with the girl well over half of my life and I didn't know? Wow, okay, that's going to take some getting over, but it does explain a whole heckuva lot," Golden Arrow glanced over at her, "How'd Shego know? How did anyone know? She didn't show her face around for a year or so, but no one would think she was off popping out a kid."

"I told you, it's a long story and I really don't want to talk about Tigress like that," Kim snapped. Golden Arrow nodded.

"Fair enough. About why we haven't gone in yet...well, you know we were all Shego's enemies when she was a hero, right?" Kim nodded, "That made Tigress think we were automatically on her side, when really we were just a group of girls seeing who could blow up who's butt. It ticks her off when we aren't on her side and trust me, she pulled out all the stops to get us to go against Shego. We've all betrayed Shego, some more, some less. Knowing this, we're not sure if one of us is going to split on Shego if things go bad and go on Tigress's side. Me, I've cut all ties to Tigress and will stick with Shego to the death, but I'm ashamed to say I'm one of the biggest backstabbers of the group. I don't blame them for not trusting me, though I wish they would."

"So you think there's a spy, but you don't know who, and you can't make plans around in case there is a spy?"

"You catch on quick," Golden Arrow hesitated but decided to ask anyway, "When was the first time you met Shego?" Kim arched an eyebrow. This seemed out-of-place.

"When Ron and I were trying to get the nano tick from Drakken."

"When did you first come to Go City?"

"When the Mucho Grande Bueno Nacho opened," Golden Arrow chewed over this information.

"Shego's under the illusion you were here before, when Tigress kidnapped Dr. Lipsky and you just stood there and watched her tear into Shego."

"I never even heard of Tigress before coming to the first sleepover!"

"Chill out, no need to be hysterical," Golden Arrow muttered, "Then that means Metaphor faked being you twice."

"What?"

"None of us get why she did it, either. But Metaphor does have a younger sister, Simile, and Metaphor is very overprotective of her. Tigress could've easily manipulated Metaphor with her as a captive. But anyway, that's how Shego sees you," Golden Arrow wrapped it up as they drove over the bridge to the Go Tower island. She felt relieved that more secrets were coming out in the open. Kim now knew about Metaphor's deceit. She'd no doubt bring it up to Shego and Golden Arrow would be excused of the unpleasant duty of telling her that what she believed was wrong. Little did Golden Arrow know that Kim had no intention of bringing this up to Shego, thinking that what was said in the car stayed in the car.

Inside the Go Tower, Shego was cuddling Deseerah who was now wearing Shego's little girl pajamas, watching "The Lion King" in the family room.

"See that?" Shego pointed at Simba, Pumbaa, and Timon walking on the log bridge. Deseerah looked to where she was pointing, "Simba is a kitty, just like you. He doesn't eat Pumbaa or Timon, no, he eats little buggies. Do they even talk about eating humans? No. Moral of the story? Don't eat your friends or humans. You will be raised to be a veagan, okay? Why do you smell like salmon?" Shego said suspiciously.

"Shego, she's a growing kitten, she needs her protein. Plus, we need to start weaning her off milk," Drakken walked in.

"You're ruining my plan! What if she gets a taste for flesh?"

"Shego, you've watched too many horror movies. Deseerah's not going to be a mass murderer, are you? You're too cute," she purred as he scratched her behind her ear.

"She's my daughter! I'll raise her however I want to!" Shego yelled. Drakken looked at her in surprise.

"Well, well, well, Miss I-Don't-Want-Anything-To-Do-With-It. Getting a bit attached, are we?"

"I didn't mean it," Shego muttered. Drakken took Deseerah from Shego and smelled her.

"She's had a bath and her diaper's fresh. I think you're actually taking responsibility for her."

"No, I care less about Dessie than Tigress does," Shego bit her lip immediately. Oh no, now he'd know. Just look at that stupid grin on his face, he knows why you're afraid of a kitten.

"You gave her a nickname. You so are attached to her."

"Don't you have someone's mother to propose to?" Drakken smirked.

"I'll need to go get it. Take care of Dessie while I'm gone, won't you, Mrs. Mother?"

"Shut up!" She yelled. Deseerah began to fuss, "I'm sorry, Dessie, I won't yell anymore, promise," she murmured quickly, doing the rocking-bouncing technique she had watched her mother do with her brothers. It stopped her from fussing, but now she was scowling. She looked exactly like Tigress when she scowled.

&&&

"I'm sorry I haven't visited, Dad. Something's come up," War Hawk apologized, sitting with him at the dinner table.

"I was getting worried about you," Avarius said. War Hawk was responsible, always had been. But in the past few years, it seemed like she had been hiding something from him, something big. She had always told him everything (except for her friendship with Shego, but that had been obvious) and wasn't good at lying.

"I'm fine, Dad, really," she kissed him on his cheek.

"You look so thin. Have you been eating?"

"No, it would just come back up. Tigress has gotten the seniors, you remember them?"

"The four villainesses the Go Team had problems with?" She smiled. Her dad knew her so well. If only she could tell him the great news about Hego...

"Yeah, well, they're back for revenge," Avarius shook his head.

"Don't worry about them; it's not your problem."

"It's easier said than done. Mego got toasted by Nightfire and is in IC," Avarius grabbed his daughter's hands.

"Honey, if you keep worrying like this, you'll loose all your hair like me," she laughed and he smiled. Something cold and hard was on her finger. War Hawk watched in horror as Avarius looked down and saw her engagement ring. She had forgotten to take it off before coming! He was going to be furious! He looked at it evenly and then smiled.

"Is this what you've been hiding from me? The love of your life? I thought it was something like drugs," he sighed with relief, as did War Hawk.

"I was, um, hoping he'd ask your permission before you found out," she admitted.

"Whoever he is, he has my permission. I trust your judgement," War Hawk winced, even though she should be grateful. It was killing her, but it would kill him. It was coming out, the truth, she couldn't stop it...

"What if it's Hego?" She breathed.

"What'd you say, sweetheart?" Avarius asked. War Hawk trembled, but looked him right in the eyes.

"I'm engaged to Hego," she said. She wanted to cry as Avarius didn't look mad, nor horrified, but heartbroken.

&&&

"That's a pretty ring," Hego approved as Drakken showed him his grandmother's ring.

"Do you think she'll like it?"

"She'll love it, knowing Mom." Drakken looked up at Hego.

"We could do one of those joint weddings and share the expenses," Hego grinned, patting him on the back, nearly making Drakken fall to his knees.

"I knew I was going to like you. Go get her," Drakken nodded bravely and scrambled out onto the rooftop. There she was, silhouetted by the dawn. Drakken felt weak, like he was a schoolboy all over again asking her out.

"Drew, I can always hear you coming," she laughed. He loved her laugh. He loved everything about her and since Shego was so much like her, he almost fell in love with her. Until Theygo came back into his life. It was time.

"Theygo, we've known each other a long time..."

"Yeah. Your point?" Drakken sighed. Sometimes it was so hard to be sweet with her.

"It renders courtship meaningless," Theygo looked at him.

"What are you beating the bush about?" He only used so many big words when he was trying to beat around the bush. Drakken tried to go down gracefully, slowly, but his natural clumsiness made him go down hard on one knee and almost making him fall over altogether. He held out the genuine pearl ring to her in offering. It might as well have been his own heart.

"Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" He squeaked and then remembered his manners, "Please?"

Meanwhile, Hego was bobbing his foot up and down. Deseerah pounced, chewed on his shoe a little, ran up his leg, ran down his leg, and continued the process over and over. Shego watched Deseerah, feeling just as restless. "Did he crap himself?" Shego asked. Hego smirked.

"Might as well have. He looked like he was going to faint or cry or both. Think Mom's going to say yes?" "Probably. But if he does, he's probably going to give up world conquest and I'll be out of a job." "I could always use an assistant mana-" "Never."

"Hego! Hego, where are you?!" Both Hego and Shego stood up. Hego shook Deseerah off of him. War Hawk came panting into the living room.

"What's wrong?"

"I told him about us."

"You told your father?!"

"I'm sorry, it slipped. Listen, Hego, you need to hide or get out of here. I don't know how serious Avarius is, but he pulled his rifle out of its glass case and is on his way here."

&&&

Please review.


	5. The traitor revealed

Disclaimer: I own the characters you don't see in the t.v. series. That simple. It'd be cool to own Denny's, though, they've got the best pancakes and I wish they kept the strawberry seranade on the menu... anyway...

Curse him. Curse him, curse him, curse him, Avarius thought, driving towards the Go Tower. Even after the Go Team split up, Hego still managed to pick at him and pick at him. Now, he was taking away his only little girl. This was unforgiveable. But in the back of his mind, he knew she was growing up. She had left the Nest years ago. She was a good, sensible girl. It was Hego, that arrogant bully that reminded Avarius so much of his father, he didn't trust him. Avarius looked at the rifle in the seat beside him. War Hawk would never forgive him if he did...

Tears coursed down his cheeks as he forced himself to turn around.

&&&

Whether Deseerah had understood Shego's acceptance of her last night or had fallen in love, Deseerah became suddenly close to Shego. Shego, whether her maternal instincts had increased or her sense of Tigress in the kitten had decreased, became closer to Deseerah in turn. Shego was on her hands and knees, Deseerah bowing playfully in front of her.

"Grrr!" Shego growled. "GRRR!" Deseerah's tiny body shook from the energy of the noise. She lept up and batted at Shego's hair. "Grrr!" "GRRR!"

"Last time I saw you on your hands and knees playing like that, the twins were three," Shego looked up to see her mother watching her, a grin on her face. She sat up and Deseerah looked at her questioningly, seeing no shame in their game.

"So, what's up with you and Dr. D?" She asked. Theygo held up her hand.

"Hope you don't mind I stole your man."

"Mom, he was never my man. He is way too old for me."

"Good girl. By the way, Metaphor called. She wants to meet at Denny's with all the girls for brunch at eleven. I said yes for you."

"Is Kim up?" Shego stood up. Theygo shook her head.

"I haven't seen her. Why?" Shego shrugged it off. She didn't feel like having a lecture about Kim right then.

She woke Kim up via tossing Deseerah on her face. Kim took a quick shower and Shego lent her a shirt since her other had become ashes. Kim grabbed the keys to the car.

"Bye, Deseerah. I'll see you when I get back," Shego called. Deseerah glanced at the open door and mewed fearfully, "I promise, I won't be gone long." Kim almost laughed at Shego's sudden display of affection for Deseerah, until Deseerah ran up Shego's leg and dug her claws into Shego, "Restaurants don't like kitties," she said, pulling Deseerah off of her and tossing her gently to the ground. Deseerah just climbed right back up her leg and dug in harder. After half a dozen more unsuccessful times, Shego just walked out with her liger fanny pack attached to her midriff.

It was the same at Denny's. Shego opened her passenger door and Deseerah jumped out before Shego could stop her.

"Deseerah, come back!" Deseerah, already at the restaurant door, looked back at if to say _bet me, I'm not stupid. I know you're going to leave me behind; it's happened before_. "Deseerah!" Shego yelled, going after her. Kim smirked as Shego leaned down and Deseerah danced a few steps away, insistently mewing.

"Whatcha got, Shego?" Metaphor asked. Her and the other girls were walking from the parking lot.

"My new kitten," Shego said. Deseerah purred, rubbing against her leg as though agreeing with her.

"Odd kitten," Metaphor muttered.

"She won't leave me alone, though," Shego said. The waitresses inside noticed Deseerah and came out fawning over her. Deseerah played up her cuteness to the max, all the while avoiding Shego's attempts at catching her.

"What a sweet thing!" One said.

"She's so cute!" Another exclaimed.

"Deseerah, you have to stay in the car, I can't bring you in!" Shego said, frustrated. The waitresses looked at each other.

"Well, I'm sure if we sit your party in the back..." The head waitress said.

"That would be wonderful," Metaphor said gratefully. Deseerah followed the waitresses in and it almost looked to Kim like she was smirking at Shego. They were sat at a table near the back, the surrounding tables mostly vacant. Metaphor seemed on edge, Kim thought, about to take a seat by Shego. A hiss alerted her to Deseerah already sitting in the chair.

"She seems overprotective," Artica laughed. War Hawk took the other seat beside Deseerah and Kim sat at one of the ends.

"Would you like something to drink?" A waitress asked.

"Water," Artica said, "Orange juice," War Hawk said, "Ditto," Golden Arrow said, "Apple juice please," Kim said, "Water's fine," Metaphor murmured, "Two milks," Shego said. The waitress jotted the order down, "Okay, I'll be back in a few," she promised, walking to the next table.

"Maybe Deseerah should wash her hands before she eats, you know, because she was walking on them," War Hawk said. Shego sighed.

"Come on, you little whelp," she said, carrying Deseerah towards the women's restroom.

"I have never seen Shego show any affection towards a baby before," Golden Arrow said, obviously amused.

"It's not a baby, that's why," Artica said.

"You guys, be nice. You're the ones who beat the loving tenderness out of her with your remarks," War Hawk reminded them. The waitress came back with their drinks, obviously disappointed that Deseerah wasn't there.

"Have you decided on what you want?" She asked. Golden Arrow cracked up, looking past the waitress. Kim turned around. The front of Shego's shirt and her sleeves were drenched, as well as Deseerah's shirt. However, Deseerah looked pleased with herself while Shego frowned.

"She seemed to think it was bathtime," Shego commented, sitting her back down. The waitress smiled.

"What would you like to eat?" She asked.

"Um, just the three pancake, two bacon, and two eggs things. And then another side of eggs and two strips of bacon for the kid,"

"How would you like your eggs?"

"Scrambled, for both," Shego reached for her milk and drank. Deseerah watched her and copied. However, her small hands and claws couldn't get a firm grasp on the glass. The milk went all over the table.

"DESEERAH!" Shego yelled, looking at her wet lap. Deseerah covered her face with her hands. The waitress scurried off, muttering something about napkins. Seeing Deseerah's scared face, Shego immediately calmed down.

"I'm sorry; it's not your fault. I should've thought..." Shego trailed off, sopping up the milk with napkins. War Hawk stroked Deseerah's hair, hoping to calm her.

"Just as much trouble as Mama Tigress, huh?" Metaphor spoke before she thought. Shego's head jerked up and Metaphor clamped a hand over her mouth too slowly.

"I told you not to tell!" Artica shouted. Golden Arrow looked to her, "I told _you_ not to tell," Kim looked to Golden Arrow, "And I told _you_ not to tell," Shego's eyes widened. "What part of "swear never to tell a soul" didn't you get?" She shrieked. War Hawk sighed, her head dropping to her hand. Last to know, as usual. Deseerah was whimpering. Shego wrapped a protective arm around her.

"We're scaring her," she stated the obvious. Metaphor nodded, taking a deep breath.

"You guys, there's something I need to get out," Metaphor said quietly.

"What is it?" Kim asked. Golden Arrow smirked condescendingly.

"I'm the traitor, okay? I don't want to be; I just am. So I'm pulling out of this whole thing, I'm tired of it anyway," she blurted out. No one seemed surprised by this confession but Kim, who tried not to show it. Metaphor? Really? Her guess would've been Artica.

"How much does Tigress know?" Artica asked. Metaphor shook her head.

"Pretty much nothing. They're waiting for you to make a move, not gathering information," she looked at Deseerah, who was now cuddling to Shego, "I should've told her about Deseerah, if that's even what Tigress named her. I might even now. She should know what happened to her daughter," Shego looked down at Deseerah. Deseerah looked up and smiled at her, making Shego smile. Her smile quickly faded as she looked back at her friends.

"No, no she doesn't. She abandoned her and gave up her rights with that."

"She probably thinks she's dead."

"Let her think that."

"Shego, I know you don't want to loose her, but how angry would Tigress get if she suddenly found out you were taking care of her?" War Hawk asked. Shego's face hardened and she glanced away.

"Who can I trust to give her to, then?" She said quietly. Deseerah picked up quickly on her broken tone and rubbed against her, mewing anxiously.

"Hego seems to get along with her well," War Hawk murmured. Deseerah pressed harder against Shego, mewing even louder. Shego shushed her.

"Like I have a choice," she said bitterly. The rest of the meal went by without incident. The whole mood had gone melancholy, between Metaphor's announcement and Shego having to give up Deseerah. Metaphor took the tab, apologized again and they all went their seperate ways.

An ordinary blonde sat in a booth not far from where they had sat. She looked different in normal clothes and looked even more lonely without her constant companion. But she had watched and listened to the entire conversation. Tigress had a kid, huh? She'd have to remember that. But right now, Marloe would keep it between them.

&&&

"Don't take this the wrong way," Shego murmured.

"I'm not; I totally understand," Artica breathed. They glanced at the girls. They didn't seem to notice that they had broken away, except for Kim, but that was because Shego was carpooling. Shego looked directly into Artica's eyes.

"This is the one time you can't straddle the line between Tigress's side and mine. If you're not 100 with me, I can't have you working with me," Artica nodded, looking into the distance.

"I wish I could promise you my loyalty, but the truth is, I'm not sure if I can. I don't know where my brother is or if they have him or...do you have any other tech geeks on your side?" Shego shook her head.

"You can hardly count Drakken," she said. Artica let out a puff of mist.

"I could work with you a little; I'll just have to be careful with Titania. She pretty much is a computer," Artica shrugged. Shego shrugged in response.

"I'll be grateful," Shego murmured. Artica looked over at the girls.

"Don't tell them, though, in case I have to betray you," Shego barely heard the last four breathed words. Shego nodded.

"No one needs to know," she agreed, going to Kim's car.

Kim wiped at her eyes as Shego got in the car.

"Great, just great," she was muttering. Deseerah scrambled out of the way. Shego then noticed Kim's red eyes, "You okay, Kimmi?"

"I'm fine," she snapped. Shego waited a minute before saying, "We're going in tonight, if that makes you feel any better. Gonna go get your family and your boyfriend-"

"My friend," Kim correctly harshly.

"He broke up with you?" Shego asked incredulously.

"I broke up with him," Kim said, a little softer. Shego's somber look broke in an unbelieving smile. She laughed, thudding against the back of the seat. Kim frowned, pulling out.

"I knew you were naive, but I didn't know you were stupid."

"Excuse me?!"

"I know what true love looks like, and I saw it between you two. Kimberly, there are a thousand Josh Mankeys and Erics in this world, but there are so very, very few like Ron. Trust me, I've looked and I've only found one other."

"It's not like I said we couldn't be friends," Kim objected. Shego cracked up harder.

"Kim, you can't break up with a boy and still be friends, because the feelings never go away. When you say "it's over", you might as well drench that bridge in gasoline and drop a match on it."

&&&

Guess I can't put off the fight much longer... Please review and give input as to what you would like to see happen (not promising anything though...).


	6. Round 1

Disclaimer: I own the characters you don't see in the t.v. series. That simple. Though War Hawk does sound a lot like Warhok...

"There's my boy," Marloe said with relief, seeing Big Al hop towards her. Fuego and Incendie were chasing after him, barking their heads off, but Big Al looked unfazed even as they nipped. Marloe slapped them on their muzzles. "Bad dogs!" She scolded.

"Leave my babies alone!" Nightfire came from where she had been supposedly guarding the prisoners, a cigarette in her hands.

"They tried to eat Big Al!"

"If he gets eaten, it's his own fault. Survival of the fittest," Tigress muttered, passing by.

"Is that your child-rearing theory?" Marloe asked smoothly. Tigress paused, feeling a little panicked by the question. She walked on. Marloe and Nightfire were wildcards; she never knew what to expect from them, but they were argueably more powerful. Luckily, Titania and Nomadia were dependable. Marloe, cradling Big Al, followed Tigress.

"I found where Metaphor met the others; right where you said she would,"

"And...?"

"Nothing. They didn't talk any strategy, except for the fact Metaphor admitted she was working for us."

"This was expected," Tigress said flippantly.

"Yeah, she's a caver. Metaphor doesn't know how to work; her shape-shifting gifts were always just there. Some of us train years and years crafting our skills," To make a point, Marloe pulled a handkerchief out from behind Tigress's ear, which was tied to another one, which was tied to another one, so on so forth, "Geez, did you mother ever teach you to wash behind your ears?"

"Will you stop that?" Tigress hissed. The handkerchief line ended. Marloe threw it over her shouldder with a sigh. The line of handkerchiefs turned into a rainbow-colored butterfly. Big Al licked his lips, "So, if they didn't talk about their plan, what did they talk about?"

"Your daughter," Marloe said casually. Tigress stopped mid-step. Marloe grinned, "Yeah, they were trying to figure out how mad you would get if you found out Shego was taking care of her. They named her Deseerah and man, does she look like you."

"You know, that does tick me off. I left her in that back alley purposely so some nitwit would find her or she would starve to death. Shego never goes in that section of the Black Market," Tigress said no more on the subject, leaving Marloe wondering how someone could just give up their baby like that. Titania was typing away on a computer, completely still besides her flying fingers across the keyboard.

"Do we have a signal?" Tigress asked.

"No. The bugs we put out, on their person or otherwise, have been shut down. Someone also gave me a virus that's spread throughout the system," One corner of Titania's mouth twitched up, "One of them's been taking some pretty advanced computer classes," she commented. Tigress tensed.

"If our system is not up and running by the time they get around to freeing their friends..."

"Relax, Tigress, I'm almost done. It's not the most complicated virus; it just takes time to get rid of. In the meantime, go chew Nomadia out. She's the one who crumpled like a leaf the other night," Titania typed faster, as though that would get Tigress off her back. She could sit and guard just as well as her, if not better. Titania tuned Tigress out, grateful for technologically advanced ears.

&&&

Kim was dreading this. First of all, she was going to go save her ex-boyfriend. Second, she was aware of Shego, Hego and Golden Arrows' condescending eyes waiting for her to mess up. Third, she wasn't looking forward to seeing Nightfire again. They were pedaling through nearly overgrown forest trails on sturdy mountain bikes, looking rather normal in their jeans and t-shirts, their faces slightly hidden by helmets. Kim had to admit, they did look more like young adults going for a bike ride than heroes going to go storm a lair without their souped-up cars. They hid their bikes and helmets underneath some brush.

"Clear on the plan?" Shego asked to Hego, War Hawk, Golden Arrow, and Kim.

"I free the hostages while you girls distract the seniors. Simple enough," Hego shrugged. War Hawk looked worriedly over at Hego.

"Don't get yourself killed, okay sweetheart?" She said, standing on her tiptoes. He bent down and she kissed him on the cheek.

"I'm more worried about you," he laughed. With one last longing look at Hego, she ran off after the other girls. She was afraid, War Hawk admitted to herself. Titania had always scared her with her near-indestructibility. But she wasn't going to be afraid this time, she reminded herself. She was going to be brave. Golden Arrow crept ahead, followed by Shego, followed by War Hawk, Kim bringing up the tail end.

"Remember the layout?" Shego murmured. Golden Arrow nodded, turning to War Hawk.

"Security?" She asked. War Hawk flipped open her phone.

"Offline," she said, tucking it away again. Golden Arrow tried the door. It swung open.

"They're expecting us," she frowned. They walked in, hardly daring to breathe. There were no lights on and no windows. They felt their way until their eyes adjusted. The distance between the girls, especially Golden Arrow and Shego, grew wider. Golden Arrow paused after going through an entryway, her hands balling into fists.

"Something-" She didn't finish. A figure slipped out of the shadows, punching Golden Arrow square in the jaw. She went spinning, falling hard. Kim felt for the handgun Shego had given her under her jacket. The attacker went down on her knees to pin Golden Arrow, but Golden Arrow was up on her feet before she was trapped.

"You're catching on, Goldie," Nomadia straightened, meeting Shego's eyes, "And who are you?"

"You don't remember me? Have I really changed that much?" Shego laughed. It had been eight or nine years, but still...they looked the same. Shego lit up her hands to jog her memory. Nomadia's mouth fell open.

"Oh...my...gosh. Girls, you've gotta come see this! Shego has not grown an inch!" Nomadia bent over, laughing. Shego frowned. Nightfire and Marloe came out of nowhere.

"I can't believe it. She's wearing a bra!" Marloe laughed.

"Look at her hips. How does she ever find pants that fit?"

"You should hear her voice; it went from falsetto to alto."

"So I lost the race to puberty. I caught up..." Shego glanced down at herself and then looked at Marloe meaningfully, "...and surpassed." Marloe crossed her arms over her chest, "What's your cup size, then?" Marloe scowled. Golden Arrow, seeing her opportunity, ran. Nomadia spun around, kicking Golden Arrow's legs out from underneath her.

"Nice try," The humor evaporated from Nomadia's voice. Golden Arrow tripped Nomadia, making her fall hard. Kim bolted on impulse around the seniors. She felt a hot curl around her ankle. Next thing she knew, she was soaring through the air and then, falling hard on the ground. Knees knocked the wind out of Kim.

"Since Art Fart doesn't seem to be participating today, you're going to be my best friend today, okay?" Nightfire purred, putting her whip away. Marloe threw a heavy purple curtain over Shego and yanked the sides down. The curtain flattened on the ground without so much as a wrinkle. Marloe grinned at an astonished War Hawk.

"What, you're not going to applaud? That isn't exactly a beginner's trick, you know," Big Al made a snickering noise. War Hawk unfurled her wings, flying over Marloe and down to the prisoner cells, Marloe and Big Al following close behind.

"Where am I?" Shego asked aloud, seeing nothing but darkness.

"Shego?" A familiar voice asked. Shego turned to her left.

"Ron," she stated. Well, she knew where she was now.

"Oh my gosh, what happened? You just appeared out of nowhere! Did that magician girl do this? She is so cool!"

"You won't think that once Big Al kills you," Shego muttered.

"Who's Big Al?"

"Her rabbit."

"Oh, that bunny that tried to eat Rufus," Rufus shivered. He hadn't come out of Ron's pocket since.

"Never, ever call Big Al a bunny, if you want to live."

"You know, Shego, sometimes I don't get your sense of humor. Bunnies don't kill; they're vegetarians," Shego smirked, looking around. Why had they singled out Ron? Sure he was Kim's best friend/sidekick/ex-boyfriend/mystical-monkey-power-endowed-boy, but he wasn't exactly much of a threat...

The door slammed off its hinges. Ron screamed while Shego looked up calmly.

"Took you long enough," Shego jeered.

"I'm not the one sitting in a prisoner's cell," Hego pointed out, "Now, come on, Titania and Tigress are bound to show up at any moment."

Kim looked out of the corner of her eye. There they were; her friends, her family. loitering fearfully outside of the prisoner cells. Hego and War Hawk were trying to organize them but a new villainess had appeared, a brunette with a gun in her hand, perched on a ledge Kim wasn't sure the purpose of was.

"If any of you value your lives, you won't move," she said. Nightfire whistled and the two dogs raced to her side. She took off their collars.

"Get 'em," she urged.

Shego looked over towards Fuego and Incendie, seeing Nightfire taking their collars off. Oh no. They were trying to trap them.

"Get 'em out," she hissed. Hego, War Hawk, and Golden Arrow immediately moved, ushering Kim's family towards the side door Hego had used. Shego began herding Kim's friends, seeing Fuego and Incendie light up like twin bonfires.

Kim's eyes went wide as she saw Nightfire's dogs go ablaze like Shego's hands, except for with real fire. The dogs dove towards the group and jumped on top of Hego. He screamed. Shots rang out from the one senior's gun. More screams and panic. She was needed, but she was so scared. She stood up and forced herself towards the mob.

Shego felt panic in her own blood, hearing the screaming. Hego! Hego was okay; he, unlike the girls, had worn his flame-retardant suit underneath his everyday clothes. He was keeping the dogs from hurting anyone else. A scared African-American met Shego's eyes and became even more scared.

"Get going!" She yelled at her group, prodding them like cattle. Cattle stampeded, though, Shego thought bitterly. Some had the sense to run, but some could only stare at Titania in pure terror, "Come on!" She screamed, now pushing at them. They knocked against each other, but weren't moving.

"Guys, just listen to Shego, she's the good guy," Ron told them. They seemed to respond better to him and Shego gave him a grateful smile. The smile faded as a wall of fire seperated her and Ron from the teenagers.

"Kim!" She heard her name called. Monique was running towards her, "Wha, what, who?"

"Go down that hallway and get as far away as possible. Stay together, I'll be there soon," Monique nodded and then directed the group of friends.

Marloe had set Big Al down.

"Back up!" Shego said, pushing Ron behind her.

"It's just a bunny," Ron whined. Hearing this, Big Al's fur stood on end and he growled.

"You heard him, Al. Sic him," Marloe gave him permission. Big Al stood on his hind legs and grew. Grew until his ears were brushing the ceiling. Ron whimpered; this Big Al looked more like a werewolf than a bunny rabbit now. It swung a large paw at Shego, knocking her against the wall. "Shego!" Ron screamed. She wasn't moving. The rabbit was moving towards him now and a girl with red streaks in her hair was approaching Shego, switchblade in her hand.

Nightfire was kneeling over Shego, using her switchblade to cut at Shego's hair. The nerve, Kim thought, pulling the gun out of her jacket. She aimed the gun with both hands.

Two flaming dogs were thrown at Big Al and all three were yipping and yelping. Ron scrambled away with Hego, out the door and to where he saw the rest of Kim's family, cursing himself for his cowardness.

Shego's eyes opened, still feeling dizzy from the impact. She tried to sit up but was punished by a burning slap.

"If you move too much, your bangs will be uneven," Nightfire jeered. Then, it happened.

Despite the chaos of the firewall, Titania's random shooting, and the wererabbit/fire dogs mess, the remaining girls in the building heard the shot. Nightfire fell over Shego, a blossom of red flowering on her left shoulder. The air was as still as Nightfire's body. And then, yowled for all of Go City to hear, was the f-bomb, causing Shego to go temporarily deaf. Nightfire jumped to her feet, calling Kim every name in the book with language too vile even for the foulest person's ear.

Kim felt a cold sweat break out as Nightfire came full-throttle towards her. Her head hit Kim's stomach like a freight train, sending her crashing into the wall. Kim heard a sickening crack and moaned. Nightfire grabbed Kim by her throat and threw her onto the ground, swearing at the top of her lungs. The switchblade rested against Kim's neck artery. Kim twisted Nightfire's body off of her with her legs, making a cut on Kim's neck too shallow to slice the artery. Kim stumbled onto her feet. Nightfire promptly tripped her back down. Kim felt herself being scooped up by Shego.

The details were fuzzy, but somehow Kim and Shego managed to fight their way out of the seniors' grasp and to some sheltered spot outside.

&&&

Drakken drank in Theygo's beauty while sitting on his tailgate. Her shoes and socks were resting on the bank as she waded in a cold stream. The sunlight gleamed off her hair. The smile on her face, illuminated her pretty yellow eyes. She was humming to herself and he wished she'd sing, she had such a lovely singing voice. The danger the girls were in seemed far away, though they were only about 30 miles away from the lair, in case back up was necessary. Theygo became suddenly aware of his stare, and he looked away, blushing.

"Penny for your thoughts, Drew," she said, curious about the blush on his cheeks.

"I, I was just um, thinking aaabout you and how, how you're still as beautiful as the day I, I first met you," she snorted.

"Oh yeah, because after four kids I've kept the same figure as my sixteen-year-old self," she rolled her eyes.

"You have a six-pack," Drakken mumbled. She didn't have that when she was sixteen. Deseerah squirmed out of Drakken's arms, mewling urgently. Drakken thought nothing of it; she had been mewling since Shego had left. Theygo looked casually over at Deseerah and then froze.

"Theygo?" Drakken asked.

"Amy..." she said, pained. Drakken spun around. Tim was half-carrying, half-dragging his wife.

"Drew, thank God!" Mr. Dr. Possible said, relieved. Drakken rushed over to him.

"Tim, what's wrong with Amy?"

"She was shot!" He exclaimed. Her eyes were glazed over with pain and he could see the wound. It was in her right shoulder, but still potentially lethal. He helped Tim carry her to his truck bed and together, they laid her down gently. Drakken went for his emergency kit he kept in the glove compartment (in his occupation, it never hurt to be prepared...).

He looked up, about to call out to Theygo, when he realized she had vanished.

&&&&&

Please review. Or else I shall leave you to wonder who lived and who died (if anyone) for the rest of your lives, mwah ha ha ha!


	7. Aftermath

Disclaimer: I own the characters you don't see in the t.v. series. Or Pinky and the Brain, who are greatly underestimated.

Kim felt something warm press against her lips. She parted them automatically and warm hot chocolate flowed down. She coughed and gagged, but after the initial shock, swallowed. The cup was pulled away from her lips.

"It seemed like a good way to wake up..." she heard Ron pout.

"Until you suffocated her," she heard Shego say. Kim tried to sit up, but she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. Shego gently pushed her back. At least, she was pretty sure it was Shego. It was dark outside and she could barely see her own hand.

"Whoa there, Kimmi. Nightfire broke one of your ribs when she rammed into you. Doctor War Hawk says you need to lie still at least until she can make some kind of cast to keep the bone in place," Shego said. Ron handed her the hot chocolate, looking guilty. Kim couldn't imagine why.

"How'd we get here?" Kim asked, rubbing at her head.

"Great thing about Go City; you can get reception even in the woods," Shego smirked.

"Your mom got shot," Ron said. Kim's eyes widened and Shego smacked him upside the head, "Ow!"

"I gave you a list of topics not to talk about..." she growled and then turned to Kim, "She's fine now. Barely lost any blood and is healing nicely."

"Who else?" Kim asked.

"What?"

"Who else got shot?"

"Joss got hit in the leg and Felix somewhere and Wade somewhere else, I think that's it," Ron blurted.

"Didn't I tell you to babysit Deseerah?" Golden Arrow came up, holding a mewling Deseerah. Ron winced.

"It scares me," he whimpered.

"It's one-twentieth your weight and you're afraid of it?" Golden Arrow laughed.

"It has claws! And teeth!" Ron shouted.

"I'll take her," Shego offered. Golden Arrow smirked, but said nothing as Shego held out her arms. Deseerah squirmed out of Golden Arrow's grasp, leaping onto Shego. Shego smiled as Deseerah purred, rubbing her head against Shego's heart.

"Go find something useful for you to do. I'm sure Dr. Drakken or Hego will put you to work," Golden Arrow insisted. Ron looked reluctantly to Kim and then wandered off. Golden Arrow glared at Shego.

"Let exs be exs," she warned.

"But they belong together; can't you see that?" Shego tilted her head.

"I'm not getting back with Ron," Kim said sternly. The corner of Shego's mouth twitched up.

"Keep thinking that, princess, keep believing you don't need him," she dared Kim, running her fingers through Deseerah's hair. Kim instinctively began to object, but found that her tongue couldn't form the words against Ron. She hated herself for the hesitation.

"I don't think we gave Kim the credit she deserves," Golden Arrow thought aloud. Shego glanced at Golden Arrow curiously.

"Really? We? I'm the one who gave her the gun."

"Case in point. You haven't even thanked her."

"What's there to thank her for? I would've been fine."

"Shego, thank her."

"But-"

"Thank her!" Shego glared at Golden Arrow and took a deep breath.

"I'm only going to say this once, Kim, and then we're going to forget I said it. Thank you for saving me," Kim smiled.

"Your welcome."

"For what?"

"Well, you said thank you."

"No, I didn't. Are you okay? I think you're hearing things," Shego jokingly pressed her hand to Kim's forehead, and that was when Kim noticed. Shego's long, silky, thick hair that Kim had been so envious of was gone, replaced by short, uneven, messy locks no longer than an inch. Kim opened her mouth to comment, but then stopped. Shego's pride must already be hurting, and for her to say something would humiliate her.

The wind caught Deseerah's nose and her eyes flew up. She straightened, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Mew?" She asked, looking into the woods behind Golden Arrow. Shego laughed.

"What is it, silly kitty? Did you smell a squirrel or something?" Shego looked where Deseerah was looking. She could see a human shape, and the human shape was pointing a gun at Deseerah's head and Shego's heart.

"Get down!" Shego shouted. Without hesitation, Golden Arrow went on her knees. Kim heard the gun crack and a green energy ball shot from Shego's glowing hand. The ball disintegrated the bullet and moved onto the gun. There was a low growl, the sound of the gun dropping to the ground, and then the crashing sounds of a retreat. Golden Arrow laughed.

"I think you're going soft, Shego. That's twice in one day someone's had to save your hide."

"Shut up. Dessie's a mutant and if I wouldn't have been bowled over by Big Al, I could've taken on twenty of Nightfire," Shego looked over at Kim, "But you do get brownie points for shooting her, 'cause that was hilarious."

&&&

"Anything I can do to help?" War Hawk looked up at the familiar voice. There was Shego, Deseerah sleeping peacefully.

"We're just waiting for Hego to get through to your mom. You know, to make sure they can stay at the Go Tower," she motioned towards the Possibles and Kim's friends. Shego smirked, as if knowing something War Hawk didn't about the plan.

War Hawk watched her best friend, doing a rock-bounce motion while clutching to Deseerah as though someone was just going to snatch her from her arms. Everytime Shego looked down at her, she smiled. Deseerah was purring in her sleep.

"I can't take her," War Hawk admitted quietly. Shego's head jerked up.

"Who else can I trust to take care of her?" She said guardedly. War Hawk shook her head.

"I haven't seen you care for a child like that since the twins were little. You actually love her, which is a big deal for you," Shego frowned.

"That's why I have to give her to you two. She'll be safer."

"You're going to just let Tigress win like that?" Shego groaned.

"Don't do this. You know once you work me up, there's no way to calm me down."

"Tigress is mentally psyching you out, trying to ruin your life by taking away everything you love. Are you going to let that happen?"

"No! Heck no!"

"Then let's go, fight, win!"

"Yeah!" Shego freed one of her hands and they slapped high fives. Shego and War Hawk laughed, "I love you," Shego muttered.

"I love you too, future sister-in-law," War Hawk embraced Shego. Deseerah shifted, but surprisingly didn't wake up. The happiness was short lived, War Hawk realized, as Shego's eyes drifted down to Deseerah.

"I'm going to have to quit my job," she decided.

"Why? We've worked so hard to turn you evil..." War Hawk said half-joking, half-serious.

"It's hard being a kid and your parents being in and out of jail. I don't want that life for her."

"You can't quit!" Drakken exclaimed, coming over from somewhere. Shego opened her mouth to object, but he pointed his finger at her, "I fire you." She stopped herself from laughing at the playful glint in his eyes.

"You can't fire me if I quit!" Shego pointed out.

"You didn't put in your two weeks notice, so I can fire you."

"On what grounds?"

"Um...on the grounds of, um, being a meanie butthead!"

"Well, why I want to work for someone who thinks I'm a meanie butthead?"

"We're through, Shego, we're through."

"Goodbye, Drew Theodore Periwinkle Lipsky. I will pack up my things and be out of your life...as soon as I find my key to the lair," Shego stormed away, biting her lip to keep from laughing. She had seen and had been in a lot of breakups, but this one topped them all.

"The "P" doesn't stand for Periwinkle, F-Y-I!" He yelled.

"Sez you!" Shego yelled back.

Joss sat quietly, the pain in her leg forgotten. The greatest supervillain team since Pinky and the Brain had broken up. Considering Team Go and now Drakken, however, a pattern of noncommitment from Shego's side was starting to show. Joss would have a day of mourning tomorrow for the loss of yet another great team. Why did all wonderful things come to a painful and abrupt end?

&&&&&

I have to say, thanks to TwilaStarla's video, I had Aly & A.J.'s "Potential Breakup Song" stuck in my head during that last part. Curse you, TwilaStarla, and your superior video making! Yes, I know, short chapter but I felt the next part works better with the next chapter.


	8. A past, a lecture, and the perfect dress

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone but my characters. Nada mas, nada menos.

"What?" Kim looked at her mother questioningly.

"We're leaving, Kim."

"But Shego still needs me. I know that usually I have to beat them once, but these villainesses aren't mine. They're going to keep fighting Shego and fighting her-"

"Your rib is broken. You can't do anything," Kim's eyes widened at her mother's tone.

"Is something wrong?" She asked. Mrs. Dr. Possible shook her head too fast.

"I just want to get going. Bethy's made it clear she doesn't want me here. Not that I blame her, she must be going crazy. I'm going crazy," she laughed bitterly. Kim had never seen her mother this way. She was always careful about being professional, keeping her cool. Now she was loosing it.

"Mom, there's no Bethy here," Kim said soothingly. Mrs. Dr. Possible smirked.

"You probably know her as Theygo," she said dryly. Kim's eyes went wide.

"You know her?"

"That's in the past, Kimmi, no sense telling you about it. We just need to leave,"

"Can't you at least stay for breakfast?" Both jumped as Drakken popped in the doorway with his plea. Mrs. Dr. Possible pursed her lips.

"I guess we have enough time," she said, glancing at her watch.

"Good. I don't know what a Farmer's Breakfast is, but it sounds delicious!" He said brightly, his mood lifted.

That is, until he went down to the kitchen to break the news to Theygo, "They're staying for breakfast," he said. Theygo's eyes didn't leave the skillet.

"Fine. Just tell them it's going to be a little bit longer," she scraped the egg off the sides, flipping them onto what looked to be chunks of potatoes. Drakken hesitated, seeing the quality kitchen knives within her reach.

"I think you should talk with Amy," he said softly.

"What's there to talk about? If I thank her for saving my life, then it's going to come around to why she saved my life. I can't talk about Carmen," she said the last sentence very, very softly.

"Theygo, it wasn't your fault..." With invisible reflexes, Theygo grabbed a chef's knife and pointed it at Drakken's throat.

"It was! I don't want to hear anything about Amy or Carmen or Yougo or I'll stick this where the sun don't shine, got it?!" Drakken ran away in retreat. It was Tim's idea to force them to kiss and make up, why was he in trouble?

&&&

They were all seated at the table, some waiting for seconds, some simply conversing. Kim never imagined she would feel awkward sitting next to Ron, but that was where she found herself now, his sad brown eyes pleading for her to notice him. She was relieved to see Shego finally emerge, Deseerah on her heels.

"Oh my gosh, Shego went emo!" Ron screeched. Shego glared at him behind her veil of half-grown bangs.

"She didn't "go" emo. She's always been emo," Wego 1 said.

"I'm not emo!" She yelled, going into the kitchen.

"Morning, honey," Theygo said casually, dishing up a plate for Shego. She looked up and a wave of shock overtook her face. She set the plate down, "Oh, Shego, I knew I didn't hold you enough as a child, but do you have to revert to your I-want-to-be-a-boy phase?" She hugged Shego.

"Mom, I've accepted that I'm a girl. It was either I get a bad haircut or Nightfire stabbed me through my skull."

"Thank goodness," Shego squirmed out of her mother's grasp, "Is Hego up yet?"

"Yeah, I'm taking this up to him," she turned and went back up the stairs, Deseerah bouncing behind her. The meal went on uneventful, until suddenly yelling could be heard from several stories up.

"What are those two fighting about now?" Theygo asked herself, starting to wash some of the dishes to avoid going into the dining room.

"So, you're getting married?" Golden Arrow said to War Hawk. War Hawk nodded.

"Yep, it's pretty official."

"Cool," Golden Arrow paused, "So, I guess that means you're going to have bridesmaids."

"Yep; you, Shego, and Artica."

"Cool. So that means you're going to have a maid of honor, too?"

"Shego's my maid of honor."

"What?" Golden Arrow spun towards her. War Hawk shrugged.

"We've promised to be each others' maids of honor since we first started thinking about weddings."

"I want to be the maid of honor!"

"I'm sorry, but I promised Shego. Maybe when Artica gets married..."

"No, you're not getting this. I want to be _your_ maid of honor."

"Why, because Shego wants to be my maid of honor and you want to beat her?" Golden Arrow frowned, turning back towards her food.

"Not the point. You're picking favorites."

"You can be Shego's maid of honor. I already was...but I don't think she counted her wedding to the family dog so maybe not." As if hearing her name, Shego went flying across the floor, amazingly staying on her feet as she glided at about 60 mph, slamming into the front door.

"THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I TRY TO BE GOOD!" She screamed towards the stairs. Hego came pounding down.

"BECAUSE KIDNAPPING IS TOTALLY LEGAL!"

"WAR HAWK SAID IT HERSELF HE WAS READY TO BE DISCHARGED! THE HOSPITAL IS SLOOOW!"

"YOU HAVE A LOT OF NERVE GOING UP TO AVARIUS-"

"NERVES YOU DON'T HAVE!" They were now screaming in each other's faces, Shego standing on her toes and Hego leaning down. Kim had never noticed how Hego was twice Shego's size.

Theygo came storming out of the kitchen as their heated verbal warfare went to name-calling.

"NO-GOOD THIEF!"

"GOODY TWO-SHOES!"

"STUBBORN, SELFISH-"

"PIG-HEADED, HOLIER-THAN-THOU-"

"STOP IT!" Theygo forced her way between them. Both immediately backed down, a guilty look on their faces.

"Fighting like heathens in front of company?! I raised you two better than that," she hissed. They both sank into submissive positions.

"Sorry, Mom. It's just that Shego has to go and act like she's above the law."

"Cut the crap, Hego. You're the one in the wrong, not me."

"Cease!" Theygo commanded. Everyone at the dining table, no matter their relation to the problem or to Theygo, sank down, feeling that they were being reprimanded as well. She dragged two empty chairs from the dining room and sat them facing each other.

"Hego here, Shego there," she commanded, her back turned to Hego. Hego stuck his tongue out at Shego. In response, Shego glared at him, "Hego, if you stick that tongue out one more time, I will gouge it out of your mouth and personally feed it to Tigress. Shego, don't give your brother the evil eye or I will gouge your left eye out so your right eye can watch Tigress eat it. Clear?"

"Yes, Mom," they both said, sinking into their assigned seats. Theygo took a deep breath, "Shego, speak first. What did you do that makes Hego think you can't act civilized, besides this immature outbreak?"

"I was trying to be good. Mego was suffering from boredom and lethargy in that stinky hospital even though he was fine. So, I picked him up last night. Oh, and I also went to go see Avarius."

"Tell her how you got Mego. Tell her why you went to go see Avarius," Hego growled, folding his arms. Shego broke eye contact with her mom, playing with her hands.

"In order to free Mego from that horrible place, I had to have documents that said he was allowed to go. So I decided to give my permission, just passed it off as an official notification. I knew they wouldn't just let me walk out without checking said notification, so I used a disguise and used the available transportation resources to get him home," Shego waited, sensing her mother digesting the information.

"I believe the part about you dressing up as a nurse and driving an ambulance. However, you can't so much as forge my signature. How could you have passed off a patient release without getting caught? War Hawk has less talent than you do, so...Artemis?"

"Yes, Ms. Go?" Golden Arrow kept her voice level.

"Did you help Shego smuggle Mego back home?" Golden Arrow laughed.

"Of course not. Why would I risk going to jail at a time like this?" Theygo turned her burning yellow eyes on Golden Arrow. Golden Arrow's confident demeanor quickly dropped, "I'msorryMs.GoIshouldn'thavedonethat," she said in a low, quivering voice.

"And now, meeting with Avarius?"

"Mom, you know Hego doesn't have balls so I went in his place and explained to Avarius the situation from a third person perspective to gain his blessing. And I did," Shego smirked at Hego.

"First of all, we don't make any reference to the unmentionables in front of guests, metaphorically or literally or slangily or whatever. Second, you asking for his blessing totally defeats the purpose of the tradition. It's supposed to show the future father-in-law that he is entrusting his daughter to a man, not a boy," Theygo thought a long, agonizing time, making Shego and Hego sweat. Finally, she spoke again.

"Both of you are in the wrong. Hego, you should have the nerve to confront Avarius yourself. Shego, you know better than to kidnap, whether it's your own brother or your methods or motives or whatnot," she put a hand on each child's shoulder, "Now, was it necessary to throw your sister into the front door or to call your brother pig-headed?" They glared at each other for a few minutes.

"No," they said.

"Now seriously, was it necessary?" Theygo asked, sensing the insincerity. They smirked at each other.

"Yes," they agreed, chuckling. She patted them on the back.

"Good kids. Remember, managing your anger means it's still there. It's better to get rid of it by any means necessary than to have it lurking in the recesses of your emotions. Oh and Shego?"

"Yes, Mom?" Theygo grinned.

"That was your first lesson in motherhood; sometimes love is tough. Your heart's in the right place, but you need to find some legal ways to resolve the conflict. You two are dismissed," they scattered like roaches in the light. Deseerah peeked out from her hiding place under the couch, making sure that the danger had passed.

&&&

The day was dragging by for Kim. All of her family and friends had migrated back to their homes, Ron most reluctant. Shego had went to go get her hair done into a feminine, un-emo look and the boys were doing something. Theygo and Drakken had went somewhere and she was still getting to know War Hawk and Golden Arrow. They were watching "Legally Blonde" when the first phone call came.

"You wanna get it? It's probably Shego," Golden Arrow said. Kim nodded and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Kimmi, I didn't expect to hear you. It's nice to see how well you're blending with your fellow losers."

"Tigress, why are you calling?" Kim said coldly. Golden Arrow and War Hawk's head snapped in her direction.

"Is Shego around?"

"No, she's not available. Can I take a message?" Kim said reflexively.

"Nah; I've got her cell. But if you really want to give her a message for me, you can tell her that nobody likes her and she can go kill herself."

"That sounds more like you," Kim jeered, hanging up.

"What did Tigress want?" War Hawk asked.

"She wants Shego to know everyone hates her and she should go kill herself."

"Typical," Golden Arrow huffed.

The calls didn't stop. They, meaning any of the seniors, would call and ask for Shego at different times. Kim asked for a message, and they'd give a hateful comment, some too vulgar for anyone's ears. They stopped answering after awhile, deleting the voicemail after listening to them instead. It put everyone in a dismal mood. Then, a break in the seniors' calls.

"Oh my gosh, War Hawk, get down here to that bridal boutique, you know, the one on H street. I found your dress. Message has ended; to repeat this message, press 1..." The girls looked at each other.

"Could be a trap," War Hawk said warily.

"I doubt it. Mischief's gone," Golden Arrow pointed out.

"Titania could remix any voice with her technology to sound like Shego's," War Hawk pointed out.

"Because everyone knows if you want to kill someone, you lure them to a bridal boutique," Golden Arrow said. They looked to Kim as though for a decision.

"I don't think it's a trap," Kim said carefully.

"Two against one. We're going," Golden Arrow got to her feet. The sooner to fight with Shego over the maid of honor, she guessed.

&&&

Shego was there, waiting anxiously outside the boutique. Kim briefly thought about Metaphor, but decided to trust Metaphor's word on not getting further involved.

"Your hair is hot!" Golden Arrow exclaimed as soon as they came into yelling distance.

"Thanks. I thought, why not turn lemons into lemonade?" Her new hair was awesome, a definite toss-up with her long, silky hair. It was a little shorter, spiked, and had neon green tips to accent her suit.

"Has a Halle Berry feel to it," Kim said. Shego laughed.

"I guess. Come on, it's in your disgustingly small size and everything."

Shego dragged them to the back of the store. She pushed aside several dresses until she pulled out one, nearly buried by the rest. The girls all gasped as Shego spread it out across her front. It was a fairy tale dress, white as new snow. Its skirt billowed like a ballgown, but the midsection would cling as tight as a second skin. The small handcrafted bits of glass and pearl were set into the dress, forming an intricate pattern. The long sleeves were flower-patterned lace and the train was actually a creme satin cape that was attached to the shoulders by ribbons and clasps; not too long, not too short.

"It's perfect," War Hawk breathed. She reached out hesitantly, as though it would disappear if she touched it. Shego handed it over to her.

"It's even on sale!" Shego's voice cracked. War Hawk clutched it to her chest, grinning at Shego.

"Sometimes it's scary how well you know me," she said. Shego met Golden Arrow's eyes.

"Scoring points with the bride by finding her perfect dress. Sneaky. But I will be the maid of honor," Golden Arrow grinned. A mischievous gleam sparkled in Shego's eyes.

"Bring it. I ain't afraid of a lil competition."

&&&

Oh no. Now we're fighting amongst each other...please review.


	9. The truth can't set you free

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone but my characters. Oh, but the things I could do if I could write my own Team Go spin-off...

Shego's eyes slowly opened. Her chest felt heavy and she looked down. Deseerah was curled up on it, purring in her sleep. Shego smiled and started petting her. She looked at Shego through half closed lids, pressing her head into Shego's neck.

"I feel like this is the beginning of a fresh start for me. And not that fresh start I felt when I turned evil. A real one," she paused, laughing, "Look, I'm talking to a cat. That's just a step above an inanimate object," Deseerah kneaded her claws into Shego's collarbone, "Ow, okay, I get it. I'm just saying, until you start talking, you're a cuddly little kitten and not ferocious like Tigress," Shego tousled Deseerah's hair, sitting up. Deseerah clung to her chest.

"Deseerah Josefina Felina...can't ask for a better name. It's fun to say and everything," Shego went to her window and looked out over the glistening water, "We've cut our ties and as soon as we beat Mommy Dearest, we'll be free to go wherever we want. Paris? Sure. Mexico City? Why not? Tazmania? Be there in a heartbeat. Where do you want to go?" She asked. Deseerah looked up at her and then pressed her head against Shego's heart. Shego smiled, feeling a warmth she usually associated with heartburn, but maybe it was love.

"Okay, Mistress Pussycat, off. I need to take a bath," Deseerah yowled as Shego pulled her off, "Why are you screaming?! I'm the one surgically detaching you!"

Wego 2's eyes opened. On his bedside table was a letter addressed to "Parental Units and Subordinate Siblings" in Shego's handwriting. He picked it up and read it. His breathing stopped for a minute.

"HEGO!" He screamed, waking his twin brother up as well. Hego came racing in.

"What's wrong?" He asked. Wego 2 looked at him with a shocked expression on his face.

"It, it's Shego."

Shego tested the water. Nice and scalding hot. Hearing someone running, she glanced over her shoulder. Knowing them, they'd probably just barge in and ask what she was doing. She closed the bathroom door and locked it. She still didn't feel safe. Should she even take a bath? But that nice, hot water would be a waste, and considering her aching muscles...she went in, nightgown and all.

Ohhhh, it felt wonderful. She sank in until all that was above the water was her face. She closed her eyes, held her breath, and ducked under. This always relaxed her, being fully submersed. Ten seconds later, she heard the door fly off its hinges and in the same instant, felt herself being scooped up out of her bathtub.

"Shego! Ow, hot," she fell to the ground.

"Hego, what is wrong with you?!" She snarled, glancing down at herself. Good, it wasn't see-through.

"What is wrong with me?" He chuckled, "You want to know what's wrong with me? Maybe if my sister was TRYING TO COMMIT SUICIDE THEN I'D CONSIDER SOMETHING TERRIBLY WRONG!"

"Suicide?" Shego laughed, "I'm taking a bath, you moron."

"In your nightgown, with the door locked."

"Because my brothers have a tendency to barge in."

"Your nerve, Shego, lying to my face when Wego 2 has the letter-"

"What letter?"

"Your suicide letter," Shego's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I didn't write a suicide letter."

"Shego, let me see your wrists."

"I haven't done that in ages."

"If you don't have anything to hide, you'll show me your wrists," Shego rolled her eyes, and then her sleeves. Where the vein was visible, red angry cuts ran parallel. Shego's eyes widened.

"I didn't do that..."

"Get dressed and get to the team room," he muttered, walking through the doorway.

"Hego, I didn't do this!" She insisted. He ran his fingers through his hair, ignoring her. She looked down at her wrists. She didn't remember where she had gotten them from. They weren't claw marks...then what were they?

&&&

The whole Go Tower was in an uproar, as though something had happened while Kim was sleeping. Hego was angry, the twins confused, Theygo tense, Drakken and War Hawk sad. Mego, still on bedrest, seemed to be just as oblivious. Golden Arrow, who hadn't spent the night like War Hawk, was over in a flash.

"Stay with the twins," she instructed, following the others into the room with the big screen and the poker Go table. Kim almost wanted to stamp her feet and say "no!", but knew better. She looked at the twins, their confused and worried eyes turned on her.

"Is Shego really going to kill herself?" One of them, Kim couldn't tell which was which, asked. Kim's eyes widened.

"I...I don't know," she confessed.

"Let's spy on them," the other suggested. Kim shook her head, feeling guilty for having the same thought.

"Why don't you guys go pick on Mego?" She asked sarcastically. They perked up.

"Great idea!" The one who suggested they spied said. They ran off, leaving Kim to lean against the door. She jumped back when it opened. War Hawk winked at her, positioning herself so as to not draw attention to the door yet letting Kim see.

Theygo was sitting in Shego's chair, her head in her hands. Drakken stood by her protectively. Shego looked angry and bewildered, Hego facing her from one side, Golden Arrow facing her on the other side.

"Don't you think I'd know if I cut myself?" Shego asked.

"Shego, those are self-inflicted wounds," Golden Arrow said firmly.

"Why would you put the suicide letter next to Wego 2? Neither of them remember the first time," The first time? What was this talk of suicide and self-mutilation, anyway? Shego wasn't the kind of person to do that...was she?

"I didn't put that letter there! I didn't even write a letter!" She exclaimed. He pulled a letter from out of his pocket.

"It's your handwriting and your wording," he glanced over it, "I find it very interesting how I found you the way the letter said I would find you."

"What does it say?" Shego asked.

""I'm going to drown myself, since that's the way I've been feeling these past several months. I locked the door so someone doesn't walk in and screw everything up, not that Hego won't just bust down the door. Don't worry; I'll be dressed so no one has to see my naked butt." Your wording or not?" Shego looked relieved.

"Oh, wow, that's an uncanny coincidence. I wrote that letter years ago and then I chickened out."

"How did that letter end up on Wego's bedside table, then, if it was written years ago?" Golden Arrow said coolly. Shego shook her head.

"I don't know."

"How do we know you're telling the truth, then?" Kim winced at Golden Arrow's coldness. Shego looked her in the eyes.

"Trust me."

"I can't," Even Hego looked surprised at her blunt reply.

"If I say I didn't do it, then I didn't do it. I've come clean about the other times. And why would I end my life when I've got so much to live for?" Shego looked around the room. Her eyes set on War Hawk.

"Chloe, please, believe me," she begged. War Hawk shook her head.

"I wish I could, but not about this. It's too big a risk I, I can't loose you," her voice grew softer and softer.

"We have to keep her safe, even if it's from herself," Theygo spoke. Drakken nodded.

"Mom, you don't believe me either?" Shego's voice cracked in disbelief.

"You're my only daughter. I'll do whatever it takes to protect you. And with these villainesses around...after the first time..."

"I'm stronger!" Shego snapped. War Hawk slipped through the crack in the door.

"I can't stand this, not again," she said to Kim. Kim embraced War Hawk, unsure what else to do. War Hawk held on for a minute and reluctantly pulled away.

"You probably don't get what's going on, do you?" She said, smiling.

"Something about Shego and suicide and self-mutilation and the seniors."

"Then you've got the skeleton," War Hawk led her towards the living room. They sat at opposite ends of the couch; War Hawk's legs curled up under her, Kim's legs hanging down. War Hawk's eyes were glossy and when they overfilled, she just gently took a hand and wiped them away from her lavender eyes.

"Shego's had a tough life; she'll insist that there are millions worse off than her, but that doesn't make her problems unimportant. It's so complicated and Shego would kill me if she knew I was talking to you like this... But she dealt for a while, staying carefree somehow, even after Clara's death. Then the seniors came," she looked with intense, sad eyes, "The seniors don't kill you with the arrow, no. They kill you with the infection it causes. You sampled what they do yesterday."

"Yesterday?"

"Yeah, those stupid calls saying she was worthless and should just die. It doesn't seem like much the first or second week, but comments like that eat at you until you're in turmoil and no one knows why. They practically had Shego do their dirty work for them, killing herself."

"That bad," Kim murmured.

"You see why we don't want to get you involved. This kind of torture, taking and releasing prisoners, injuring, taunting, it could take months."

"Shego seems stronger, now. Maybe she's not trying to kill herself," Kim hoped. War Hawk smiled.

"Her own family didn't know until Shego left Go City and Tigress gloated. Except Hego," War Hawk shook her head, "I've told you too much. I'm going to have to kill you now," she joked.

"I appreciate it," Kim said, though this new side of Shego confused and scared her. She knew Shego was as fallible as any human being, but that depressed? She had no idea.

&&&

She was going to kill Hego. First of all, intruding while she was bathing, that was unforgiveable. And then, accusing her of trying to commit suicide and of cutting herself? She was just as baffled as them, if not more. How couldn't she knew where the cuts were from? How did that letter get to Wego's beside table if it was written when she was a freshman?

She winced at the pain she had seen in everyone's eyes. She had hurt them all, and now she was hurting them without doing a thing. They were so scared she was going to take her own life, they had locked her in this room. On one hand, she would do the same if they ever showed any signs of being suicidal but on the other...she didn't do anything. She sure wasn't depressed, just angry. And for them to think she was still so weak that those stupid villainesses could still get to her...hadn't she proven her strength, striking out on her semi-own?

Her head jerked up as the door opened and then shut quickly.

"Shego?" Oh, great.

"Hey, Kim. Come to lecture me about the evils of my supposed deeds?"

"I don't think you did those things, either," Well, that shocked Shego. And pleased her.

"Finally, someone's on my side." Kim came closer, glancing over her shoulder. How had she gotten in when Hego hadn't left the door since she had been exiled?

"I think the seniors are setting you up," she said. Shego smirked.

"How do you figure?"

"War Hawk explained something about arrows and infections, but anyway, they don't play as much a physical game as a mental game."

"So?"

"So I figure they're trying to single you out by turning everyone against you."

"How do you explain this, then?" She extended her wrists to Kim. Kim shook her head.

"Tranquilizers, sedatives, I'm no detective," Shego looked deeply into Kim's eyes.

"Why do you believe me?" She asked. Kim smiled.

"Honestly, I can't picture you that way. But I'll convince them; maybe that third person thing you did with Avarius will work."

"Doubt it, but you can try."

Kim slipped out of the room, determined. The more she thought about it, the more she believed Shego. Shego, villain or not, wouldn't have sounded so pleading if she was guilty. She heard a scratching sound as she passed by Shego's bedroom and a mewing.

"Oh, Dessie, did you get shut in?" She asked, opening the door. Deseerah put her nose to the ground, sniffing, trying to find Shego's trail.

&&&&&

I know someone's going to get mad at me for this chapter, but I wrote it despite that fact. You see Shego's past your way, I see it my way. It's just a matter of opinion, though it is a bit OOC for the Shego we know, but this was before the Shego we know, also. No flames, please.


	10. Evidence

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone but my characters.

Theygo stroked Deseerah's fur, who was curled up in her lap asleep. She was somehow more soothing than a real cat, and definetely more cuddly than one of her own children. She hoped Shego knew what she was getting herself into by adopting Deseerah. They were easy enough to control now, but later on they became their own person. And if Deseerah turned out to be like Tigress...that would be ugly. She felt a hand on her shoulder and leaned into the arm.

"I'm scared I'm going to loose my girl," she confessed.

"I'm afraid of loosing her, too. I thought that the scars had healed, so to speak," Drakken's other arm came down slowly. He expected a sharp reprimand, but instead found her fingers interlacing with his own. She was just as unpredictable, if not more so, than Shego.

"I hoped she'd never feel that way again. I don't know what to do."

"None of us do. That's why we locked her in that room," Deseerah looked up.

"Oom. Oooooom," she said. Theygo and Drakken exchanged glances.

"She's learning fast," Theygo said worriedly.

"Probably a survival instinct or something. Animals grow faster than humans," Drakken said.

"Manz," Deseerah repeated.

&&&

"What are you doing with Shego's cell?"

"Nothing!" Kim shouted, flipping it down and stuffing it in her pocket as Golden Arrow came into her guest room. Golden Arrow smirked.

"Lying to a villainess, especially so horribly. I'm knocking brownie points off," she came and sat beside her, "Now, again, and truthfully. What were you doing with Shego's cell?" Kim looked at her lap.

"I thought about what Tigress said, about calling Shego on her cell, and I wanted to see or hear the messages," Golden Arrow was quiet.

"Were there any?" She asked quietly.

"Yes, and they were cruel. Very cruel," Golden Arrow smirked.

"Their style," she said dryly. She hesitated but spoke, "I'm sorry you read those. I'm sorry you ever got involved."

"Even after shooting Nightfire, you have your doubts about me?" Kim said bitterly.

"No, no you proved yourself that night. But now, even if you wanted to get out, you can't."

"Kim, did you tell the twins they could pick on Mego?" Hego asked, coming into the room.

"Yeah," Kim admitted. Golden Arrow smirked.

"Well, thanks to you, Mego's in an even worse mood. I didn't even ask what they did to him," he chuckled. He looked at Kim, "I see you're finally resting with that broken rib."

"Oh, she's not resting. She's just not running around like Shego would be," Golden Arrow joked. Hego shrugged and left. What would looking at Shego's cell history solve anyway, Golden Arrow wondered. She didn't ask Kim this, though, suspecting Kim was on her own mission she didn't want anyone to know about.

&&&

Now what? All Shego's history proved was the seniors' hatred of her. They held no immediate threats or clues. Kim felt defeated and she had barely started. Deseerah wandered in, mewling.

"What's wrong, Dessie?" She asked. Deseerah started pulling at Kim's pants, "You want me to follow you?" She asked, standing. Deseerah dashed towards the door and looked back. Yes, she wanted her to follow. Deseerah led her to Shego's bedroom and jumped on her bed, pulling back the covers. Kim squinted. What did she want? She kneeled on Shego's bed.

Her breath caught in her throat. There was blood; not much but enough to come from a cut. She didn't know much about self-mutilation, but she guessed few did it on their own beds on the mattress and even fewer left the blood there.

"You're a genius, Dessie! Thank you!" She ripped the sheet off and ran back to her room.

"Oooh, oooh, oooh," Deseerah bounded after her. Kim looked in her backpack...her Kimmunicator was gone. She searched her room, but found nothing. She had it, she knew she had it, where was it? She was too excited to look any longer. There was a medical examination room in the hospital, she knew from getting lost when Mego was in there. She wasn't exactly sure what she was going to prove, but this seemed crucial.

&&&

"The blood sample from the bedsheet was very interesting..." Dr. Mortimer told Kim as she came into the lab from waiting in the waiting room.

"Do you know who it's from? I mean, can you tell?" Kim asked eagerly. He nodded.

"The sample on the bedsheet matched the sample we have on record of Shego," he glanced at her. She nodded.

"That sounds about right," Kim confirmed. They came to the examining table where the sheet had been laid out.

"The interesting thing about the blood sample from the bedsheet is it contained an anesthetic drug that is neither illegal nor available to the public."

"A sleeping drug?"

"Yes. It seems as though the drug was injected into Shego, the person who had administered the drug waited until the drug was in complete effect, and then a wound was inflicted, causing her to bleed with samples of the anesthetic. I'm curious as to what the situation was," Dr. Mortimer looked at her questioningly.

"If my theory's right, she was attacked. And if there was a razor with the same blood on it... Thank you very much, Dr. Mortimer!" Kim raced out. If she could find that razor, that would be all the proof she would need.

&&&

War Hawk had seen Kim leave with the bedsheet. She was confused, but decided Kim had her reasons. She had just called Artica's lair and no one had been there. She had called Artica's cell phone and no one had answered there, either. That was strange; Artica always had her cell phone turned on and with her and, embarrassingly, answered it wherever. She left a message at each phone, suggesting they go bridesmaid shopping soon since the seniors seemed to be attacking mentally. She was sitting there, confused, when the phone rang.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Hi, is Metaphor around?" The fast, energetic voice was hard to mistake.

"Oh, hey, Simile. Metaphor's not here," War Hawk heard her sigh.

"Why isn't she?"

"I don't know."

"Well, why don't you know?"

"I haven't talked to her for awhile."

"Neither have I. She hasn't come home for a couple days as far as I know," War Hawk's eyes widened.

"She hasn't?"

"Are you deaf? I just said that."

"Well, okay. I'll keep an eye out for her. If you need anything-"

"Kay, bye," Simile hung up. War Hawk rolled her eyes and hung up. The front door opened.

"Kim, that you?"

"Yeah, War Hawk. I just got back from the medical examination room at the hospital and I think I have proof that Shego's innocent," Kim flopped down on the couch, wincing as she remembered her rib, "Deseerah showed me some blood that was on Shego's bedsheet, so I took it in since I can't find my Kimmunicator. They said that there was an anesthetic drug in the blood and that it had to have been injected a few minutes before wounds let out the blood sample," War Hawk's eyes perked up.

"So Shego couldn't have cut herself. She was knocked out!" War Hawk grinned, "Oh, thank you, this means the world to me, that she's not really doing those things anymore!" She hugged Kim. Kim screamed in pain, "Oh, sorry."

"It's okay. My pounding heart and lungs have already been hurting it enough," Kim said.

"I don't think we'll need the razor to prove Shego didn't do it, but there's something else that's been bugging me."

"What?"

"I just got off the phone with Metaphor's sister, Simile. She says she hasn't seen Metaphor in a few days. If Metaphor isn't working, she's usually home with Simile. And I can't get ahold of Artica and usually she's the easiest," Kim frowned.

"You think something's up?"

"No. Well, maybe. I just want to stop by their places to make sure...and check up on Simile. It doesn't sound like she's been taking her meds."

"What about Simile?" Golden Arrow stopped. She had been on her way to the kitchen to get a snack.

"She hasn't seen Metaphor. Artica's not picking up, either. I think I'm going to go check on them," Golden Arrow opened her mouth to say that it was a waste of time, that they were probably fine. Then again...

"It couldn't hurt to go visit them. I'm starting to get sick of the Go Tower."

So, they loaded up into Golden Arrow's red Mustang convertible (unfortunetely, the hood was up) and drove. Their first stop was Metaphor and Simile's place, a middle-class apartment they rented. Golden Arrow led, followed by War Hawk, followed by Kim, up to the second story, to Room 16. She knocked on the door.

"Simile? It's Golden Arrow."

"Oh, yeah, come on in," Golden Arrow opened the door.

"Where are you?"

"In the living room," Kim saw a shadow on the wall. It was weirdly shaped. It looked like there were two heads...

"Golden Arrow, get out!" Kim snapped. Golden Arrow looked at Kim curiously. Sure, if Shego was here, she'd just run out. In a heartbeat, the shadow moved, pinning Golden Arrow to the wall.

"We just keep running into each other, don't we, Goldie?" Nomadia jeered. A young girl ran out towards them. She looked exactly like Metaphor, except for younger, shorter, and wider eyes.

"Titania's around here somewhere," she murmured. War Hawk glanced at Golden Arrow. She was standing her own against Nomadia.

"Come on; we'll get back to the Go Tower and pick up Golden Arrow later," They rushed back to Golden Arrow's Mustang. Kim had to stop a moment; her lungs paining her rib.

"Red head!" Simile screamed. Kim looked back and saw the woman who had been shooting at her friends and family running towards her, two metallic wings sprouted from her spine.

It happened so fast, Kim didn't know she was flying until they were high above the other buildings. She wanted to scream, the woman was squeezing her rib, making it hurt like heck. She shot off like a bullet, holding onto Kim as she sailed far above Go City. Actually, it was pretty fun.

"You must be the new one, Kim something."

"Yep."

"I'm Titania. This has nothing to do with you," she dangled Kim, looking down at the ground as Kim wondered what she was talking about, "She is soooo slow. Those stupid organic wings of hers couldn't fly her off the side of a-" Titania was side-tackled. Kim slipped from her arms and fell onto something a few feet later.

"Hold on!" War Hawk urged, her royal purple feathers unfurled. Kim wrapped her arms around her neck and then War Hawk folded her arms into herself, free-falling. Kim was used to and comfortable with free-falling, but she started getting nervous as the ground came very close. Twenty feet, fifteen feet, ten feet... she pulled her wings out, swooping under a driving car. Kim's grip tightened, amazed they didn't get run over. Meanwhile, Titania was following closely.

War Hawk shot back into the air in a 90 degree angle, flapping hard as she ran parallel with the Mucho Grande Bueno Nacho. Kim loosened slightly, recognizing her choke hold wasn't helping the situation. War Hawk glided smoothly through the giant taco decoration on top and then dropped off dramatically down the other side, making the same daredevil stunt of flying underneath Go City traffic and then shooting up. She zigzagged through the air, going through alleys and playgrounds and anything else. Once Kim realized War Hawk wasn't going to hit something, she thought how amazing this was. Here was a girl, maybe a hundred pounds, outracing a half-machine with a girl of equal weight twisting and turning like a gymnast. But after thirty minutes, War Hawk's strength began to drain. Her flapping slowed and her breathing was ragged. She set her course towards the Go Tower.

She was circling when Titania shot a blue electric current at War Hawk. War Hawk's body went rigid and unresponsive. Her body went plummeting towards the water.

"War Hawk! War Hawk!" Kim screamed in her ear. Her eyes were blank. Titania was closing in. As a last resort, Kim let go, separating herself from War Hawk.

Kim watched as Titania snatched up War Hawk's still body like a hawk, jetting away, leaving Kim to crash into the salty water.

&&&&&

Please review. Oh and I keep forgetting, but I made a new video on Youtube. It's from Shego's POV, a tribute to Mischief. Yes, boredom set in that day. Just go to LilMissPoison's channel, it's the featured video.


	11. The Torture Channel

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone but my characters.

The tides were with Kim, gently pulling her to the small island the Go Tower was situated on. She stood up, the pain in her rib sharp, and went through the door. Her shoes made a squeaking sound everytime she stepped. She took the elevator to the room where Shego was. Hego was standing outside and Kim thought about how ridiculous this all was. He glanced at her.

"Why are you wet?" He asked.

"I took a swim. Listen, you can't lock up Shego anymore."

"Why?" Kim measured his expression, but Kim didn't know him well enough to tell how he'd take War Hawk's kidnapping.

"Let me talk to Shego first," Kim boldly reached for the doorknob. Hego gently forced himself between the door and her.

"Surely anything you can say to Shego you can say to me, too."

"Not necessarily," Both jerked up as the door opened and Shego walked out.

"Hego, you can be such a control freak. She wants a girl-to-girl talk," Shego said flippantly. Hego's mouth dropped open.

"How did you, I, I locked it, I know I did."

"You forget my profession once again. Come on, Kim, let's just go into my bedroom," Shego stuck her tongue out at a baffled Hego. They waited until they were a story up before they started talking.

"Why didn't you break out sooner?" Kim asked. Shego held up her hand, a pout on her face. Her nails were all sharp and healthy except for her index nail, which was broken, "Awwww, poor Shego," Kim teased.

"You sure took your time," Shego commented.

"Sorry, I couldn't find the razor to one-hundred percent prove it, and I don't think Hego would accept less."

"True. So what was the deal?"

"Someone shot you with some anesthetics and cut you to make it look like you did it."

"Who would go through the trouble to do that just to frame me?" Shego laughed, shaking her head, "The letter would be easy enough to find. I probably stuffed it in a binder in my room after the moment passed," Mewling happily, Deseerah darted out of Shego's room and ran up her leg.

"Ouch! Yeah, love you too. I've only been gone a day or so," Deseerah purred loudly as Shego held her. Shego raised an eyebrow.

"You tore up my bed?"

"There was blood on the bedsheet. I used it as evidence," They sat on the bed, since Shego had no other sitting furniture in her room. She had a dresser and a nightstand with her bedroom connecting to her own private bathroom (what Kim wouldn't do for that...). The walls were a soothing green-blue color.

"Is there something else?" Shego asked. Kim nodded.

"War Hawk called Artica today but she didn't answer. Simile called her today asking about Metaphor and so we went over to make sure everything was okay. Nomadia and Titania ambushed us; last I saw Golden Arrow she was fighting Nomadia. War Hawk and I were trying to get Simile away when Titania picked me up. War Hawk got me back and we flew around for a long time until..."

"Until?"

"Until Titania knocked her out. At least, I hoped it only knocked her out," Shego's eyes widened, "I'm sure it only knocked her out. Titania snatched her up and I...fell," Kim added quickly. Shego looked at her soaked clothes and frowned.

"You were right not to tell Hego. He would be out the door right now if he heard. We need to think up a plan and wait to hear from Golden Arrow," she petted Deseerah thoughtfully.

"They wouldn't...kill them, would they?" Kim asked hesitantly.

"We don't even know if they did capture Artica and Metaphor. To answer your question, I don't know. I don't think so. All I know is that if we go in there with nothing, we will get killed, no doubts about it."

"So, we wait," Kim said. Shego nodded.

"We wait."

&&&

Hego would never know what Kim had told Shego, but they were definetely being sneaky about something. He didn't like sneaky. It was dishonest, and he couldn't stand dishonesty. The whole suicide thing had been pushed under the rug, forgotten because no one wanted to think about it. He didn't want to think about it, but he also didn't want to loose his sister.

It was the next morning. No one had called and Shego and Kim were waiting anxiously by the phone for someone. He found a note by his dresser in a handwriting he wasn't familiar with and read it.

"Hego, we're going to eat breakfast in the team room, Kim," he shrugged, thinking nothing out of place. They met in the kitchen and grabbed some bowls of cereal. Shego and Hego sat in their designated color chairs and Kim sat in Mego's. They ate in silence, Kim and Shego watching the cordless phone they had brought up as though thinking it was going to do a flip.

"So, expecting a call?" Hego asked casually.

"From Golden Arrow," Shego said.

"From Artica," Kim said at the same time. They glanced at each other.

"From Artica," Shego said.

"From Golden Arrow," Kim said at the same time. Shego smiled.

"We're waiting for both of them," she said. Hego looked at both of them suspiciously.

"Is there something I should know?" He asked.

"So, Kim, what was up with eating in the team room this morning?" Shego asked. Kim looked at her.

"What are you talking about? Hego's the one who said we were going to eat up here," Kim looked to him.

"You told me," he corrected. The giant screen monitor flashed to life, showing a blonde peering into a lense.

"How can I tell if this is going to the Go Tower?" She yelled over her shoulder. There was an inaudible reply, "Well, excuse me for not being a technician. That's Titania's job," she stepped away from the camera, "Hello, what's left of you pathetic losers, it's Nightfire with the Torture Channel. Watch as your friends slowly die before your eyes while you just bide your time. It's hour... Well, depends on who you ask, some of your worthless lumps of flesh you call companions have been here longer than others. They've gotten no food and minimal amounts of water and no sleep. Why am I feeling upbeat? 'Cause y'all are gonna die! Every last one of you!" Nightfire laughed sinisterly. A sinking feeling came into the pits of all their stomaches, "Fuego, be a gentleman and carry the camera," The camera bounced and shook as Fuego followed his mistress, "Thank you, Fuego," she said, taking the camera back and pointing it into the room, "Ah, Titania's batting around one of our victims right now."

The room was closed off by a thick glass wall. Titania seemed to be yelling, her hands balled into fists. A black haired girl stood, her back against the wall. She had various cuts and bruises on her body and a black eye, but didn't seem in too bad a shape besides the fact she was trembling in fear, her eyes wide.

"Chloe!" Hego screamed, standing up, his eyes wide in horror. War Hawk's lips moved normally and clear, infuriating Titania. Her eyes flashed red in a robot horror movie way. She glanced up at Nightfire and grinned.

"I think she was saving her worst until you could see it, Hego," Titania grabbed War Hawk, centering her in front of the camera, facing towards them. She looked confused and tired and scared and a thousand other emotions as Titania grabbed her right arm in two places, at the forearm and at her wrist.

They watched in horror as Titania smashed War Hawk's arm down over her metallic leg. War Hawk screamed and Kim turned away. Nightfire cackled.

"No one likes a broken chicken wing. Well, this is the Torture Channel, hoping you sacrific your butts before we have to use more examples. This is Nightfire, signing off," The screen went black. Hego turned to Shego, rage and pain in his face.

"Why, why Chloe? She never hurt anyone," his voice cracked. Shego went over and held her brother.

"They think they can get something out of her," Shego said softly. He looked into Shego's eyes, which were just as sad and angry as his. He stood, breaking away from Shego's arms.

"Load up."

"We can't take them with so few of us," Kim said. Shego glared at her.

"You hear him, load up," she said coldly. Kim followed, anger rising. They were right; they weren't going to get away with this, no matter what the cost. Now was the time. Deseerah came pounding up as they came for the door.

"No, baby, it's too dangerous, you have to stay home," Shego said. Deseerah knew that tone. It was the she-couldn't-go-with-them tone. She did not like that tone. She growled, baring her teeth, "Yes, you're ferocious, but you still can't go."

"Maybe Deseerah would calm Tigress, and us, down. You know, maternal instincts?" Hego said. Shego looked down at Deseerah, who seemed to be smirking.

"If you get hurt, don't come mewing to me."

&&&

The rage that they felt from War Hawk and whatever personal grievances they had from the seniors or Tigress blinded them, causing them to go into the lair unprepared. Kim glanced around, suddenly her rage forgotten. What was she doing here with a cast and a broken rib? She wasn't an asset, she was a weakness. Where was Deseerah? Oh no, if something happened to her, Shego... Would Shego ever have another child if she lost Deseerah? She didn't have any more time to think. She felt herself hit the ground hard.

"Did you not learn your lesson the first time?" Nightfire sneered. Kim kicked Nightfire's legs out from under her.

"Did you?" Kim retorted. Out of the shadows Nomadia, Titania, and Marloe all came, swarming towards Shego and Hego. Hego glanced at Shego.

"Go!" She yelled, understanding his hesitance to leave her. Hego charged over to Kim. Nightfire was ready.

"Fuego, Incendie, sic him!" The dogs lit up with fire, racing towards Hego. Shego's head swiveled from Nomadia to Titania to Marloe, unsure who was going to attack her first. Green fire danced around Shego's hands. She was about ready to attack all three when a heart-wretching scream caught her ear.

"HEGO!" She shrieked, watching Fuego and Incendie topple him over. She sprinted towards him, but Titania grabbed her shoulders, "HEGO! HEGO!"

"Hego, Hego, Hego. Gosh, you haven't changed a bit. You're so weak," Titania jeered. Shego glared daggars at Titania. The seniors watched in amazement as Shego punched Titania hard enough to make her let go of Shego. Shego clenched her eyes shut, fighting back tears. She broke her hand, but it never felt so good. War Hawk, that was for you.

"Don't kill her," Nomadia reminded her. Titania swung her fist, knocking Shego out before she even hit the ground. Marloe whistled and Big Al came reluctantly hopping.

"Go help Fuego and Incendie with Hego, sic him," Big Al changed into his wererabbit form, helping Fuego and Incendie (who had changed back to normal dogs) to a prisoner cell. Titania threw Shego's limp body over her shoulder and went to an unoccupied cell. Nightfire dragged Kim to her feet, half-carrying, half-dragging Kim to a cell and shoving her in.

"Not much of a fighter, are ya, Kimmi?" Nightfire said, slamming the door behind her.

The cell was dark and made of cement. And freezing. She waited for her eyes to adjust. Then, in the corner, she saw a body curled up to the wall. Kim crawled towards it. Up and down the body were red, angry burns and patches of blue skin. Kim's heart raced.

"Artica?" She asked.

"Kim?" A whisper of a voice croaked. The body turned slowly onto her back, relieving Kim of the thought that she had been killed. Her face looked like a piece of bacon.

"Oh, Artica," Kim whimpered.

"It's okay, it's not as bad as it looks," It was hard to understand her, but her voice was becoming clearer, as though she hadn't spoken in a long time and now was getting used to speaking. She forced herself to sit up, wincing with pain, "Really, I'm used to getting burned, my skin's very delicate," she tried to smile, but decided it was too painful.

The girls looked up as a bright red light appeared above the small barred cell window. It said 12:00:00, then 11:59:59, then 11:59:58, then 11:59:57.

"What is that?" Kim asked.

"A countdown," Artica said. Kim turned to her.

"For what?"

"Do the seniors have all of us?"

"I think so."

"Then it's the countdown to our deaths."

&&&&&

Please review.


	12. Being picked off

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone but my characters.

**11:43:24 until execution**

"The walls are soundproof, or maybe just thick. Either way, we can't hear the others. The seniors can hear us, and we can hear the seniors," Artica's voice was coming clearer and she was even starting to look slightly better, "The cells are lined up in a row, I remember from the first time we came. There are six in all," she drew a line with her finger on the ground as she spoke, slicing the line into six segments.

"We're on the end here, because I didn't pass any cells when Nightfire locked me up," Kim added, pointing at one of the imaginary end segments.

"There's..." Artica counted off her fingers, "Six villainesses including you."

"Hego came, too, and Deseerah, but I don't know where she ran off to," Kim offered. Artica frowned brieftly, but it was too painful.

"Still, with us in one cell, there'd be enough for the others to have their own cell, excluding Deseerah," Artica chuckled bitterly, "Why does this matter, anyway? It's no use to us even if we do escape."

"Yes, it is. If there's an empty cell, we can skip it to save time. Now, Shego would be singled out, wouldn't she?" Kim urged. She needed this to keep her mind off the blaring red numbers counting down, to give her hope, to drive away the part of her mind that knew it was the end.

"Wouldn't she?" Kim pleaded. Artica didn't respond, didn't even look at Kim. And then, softly and hesitantly as though admitting defeat, Artica replied coldly, "Of course they'd single Shego out. They know she's the most dangerous if paired.

**11:36:11 until execution**

"Hego..." he heard a soft voice call. He was imagining the voice. If he kept his eyes closed, it would never leave him. He felt something touch his burning chest and he flinched, "I'm so sorry, Hego. I, I never meant to hurt you."

"Chloe," he felt foolish for saying it, yet there was hope in the name.

"I'm here, Hego, I'm right here," he felt a wet cheek press to his. He opened his eyes. It wasn't his imagination. He smiled.

"I came to, um, save you," he murmured.

"Knock it off!" Nightfire yelled at them, lighting a cigarette. She turned away, glaring at Marloe, "Why'd you stick those two together, anyway? If it wasn't for their injuries-"

"They wouldn't do anything either way," Marloe cut her off. Nightfire blew a cloud of smoke out, "Besides, isn't it cute how they know they're going to die and yet they're falling in love all over again? It's like a crappy tv soap opera where "love" will save them," Marloe giggled. Nightfire smirked.

"And people think I have a sick sense of humor," she snickered.

**9:15:42 until execution**

Shego was finally starting to think straight. Her head had been spinning and her vision blurred. Titania had given her a mild concussion. Great. A head butted into her chest, scaring Shego. The gentle purr reassured her, though.

"You should hide. If they saw you, who knows what would happen," Shego said softly. Deseerah looked up at her haughtily, "Yeah, uh-huh, you're bosses' daughter, but that's gonna get you nowhere with these girls," Shego heard the footsteps and quickly hid Deseerah behind her.

&&&

"How did Team Go defeat them last time?" Kim whispered. Artica shrugged.

"They didn't."

"What?!"

"Shhh," Artica warned and then leaned closer, "The seniors defeated themselves. Their personalities, morals, and tactics are so diverse, it's amazing how they could even work together. Their hatred of us freshmen has grown so strong, though, I doubt they'll rest until we're terminated," Kim leaned back, chewing this over.

"There is something we can do, then, no matter how low."

"What are you talking about?"

"Artica, have you been paying attention to the guard changes?"

"They seem to do it every two hours; Nightfire with Marloe, Nomadia with Titania. Why?" Kim smirked.

**7:58:00 until execution**

Human girls and women are perhaps the cruelest of all the species in the world. They drive each other to suicide and self-mutilation. They make them hate one another or bring each other closer together. They make a pecking order that is almost inalterable. The wounds they create last for decades and decades. All they need is their one defensive/offensive weapon almost unique to human girls and women. They are practically born with it, refining it their whole lives and wielding it like a daggar.

The art of gossip. Not even rumors, just gossip. Some do it more, some do it less, but all human girls and women find themselves using it at one time or another. Kim found herself, in the pit of despair, needing to use it literally to survive.

Kim walked casually over to the cell door and waited. Nightfire noticed her almost immediately.

"Hey, Kimmi. How's it feel knowing when you're going to die?" Nightfire sneered. Kim shrugged.

"Predictable, I guess," Kim glanced away, letting a smile grow on her face.

"What is it?" Nightfire demanded, just as Kim thought she would.

"Oh, nothing. I'd just hate to have to work for such a low-life sneak," Kim baited her.

"Yeah, Tigress is a no-life, but a sneak? What makes you say that?"

"Just something I learned..." Nightfire came as close as the door would allow.

"Listen, Tigress gave me no directions 'bout you. I can kill you whenever I..." Nightfire cursed for emphasis, "...want. I suggest you tell me exactly what the..." Kim noticed she liked combining curse words in politically incorrect ways, "...is going on you-"

"Sticks and stones," Kim cut her off. She tilted her head meaningfully towards Marloe. Nightfire chuckled.

"Marloe? You're worried about Marloe? She's practically deaf. Now," Nightfire lit up her hand in the same manner as Shego, except for it was real fire. Kim fought against the urge to retreat as Nightfire reached the hand until Kim could feel the heat, "Tell me," Nightfire demanded.

"Oh, it's nothing really, common knowledge is all. Tigress had a daughter a few months ago."

"Really? With who?" Nightfire's hand withdrew, the fire vanishing.

"Who knows. Drakken found her abandoned somwhere in the Black Market and Shego's been caring for her since."

"This is too juicy. How do I know you're not messing with me?"

"She came with us. She's bound to be around here somewhere," Kim paused and then added, "Says a lot about her, doesn't it?"

"Sneaky, huh? Thanks, Kimmi. Maybe I'll kill you quickly after all," Nightfire walked away. Kim smiled nervously, going back to Artica.

"Female sabotage. Brilliant but risky," Artica approved.

"I'm starting to wonder if it's worth the risk of Tigress finding out I told her that," Kim said, crossing her fingers.

**7:56:23 until execution**

Shego was amazed by how intuitive Deseerah was. Everytime Shego went tense, as though understanding why, she would hide behind Shego. Shego couldn't decided whether it was some animal instinct or she was just smart. Either way, Shego tensed as Marloe wandered by, looking bored out of her mind. Not much longer after, Nightfire joined her.

"You look sinister," Marloe noted. Nightfire was grinning. Nothing good could come from Nightfire grinning.

"A little redheaded bird just confided in me. Guess who had a baby?" Marloe perked up.

"Shego?"

"No, Tigress," Marloe's interest dissipated.

"Oh."

"Oh? That's all you've got to say about this? That stupid freshman got knocked up!" Nightfire chuckled.

"I knew about Deseerah," Marloe shrugged. Nightfire stood with a stunned expression on her face.

"Hey, I thought we were cool," Nightfire sounded hurt.

"We are cool."

"Then why didn't you tell me?" Nightfire snapped.

"I just didn't think it was necessary," Marloe didn't mention the fact that Nightfire couldn't keep a secret.

Nightfire stormed away. Tigress must've told her! How else would she have known? How could you even get an in with Tigress?

Marloe glared at her back. Redheaded bird? Since when did Tigress let anyone into her personal life?

Shego smirked, biting back a laugh. Bad news, two of the four knew about Deseerah. Good news, she had waaaay underestimated Kim's powers.

**6:00:00 until execution**

"Hey, who put gasoline on your flames?!" Nomadia snapped. Nightfire glared at Nomadia.

"Marloe's being a..." Insert cuss word of choice, she said them all.

"Take a chill pill. What'd she do to you?"

"She knew about Tigress's daughter."

"Tigress's daughter?"

"I'm surprised the whole lair doesn't know. Yeah, Tigress had a kitten and Shego got ahold of it, but Marloe didn't tell me. She knew and she didn't tell me!"

"Makes you feel better, Titania nor I knew about her daughter. She hid her pregnancy well," Then again, she hadn't done anything for a year. Nomadia saw Titania already at her post. She had a chair set up and a laptop on her lap.

"I don't think I like this setup anymore," Nomadia said, leaning against the wall beside Titania. Titania respectfully closed the laptop down.

"Tigress herself doesn't trust those two; you can see it in her cattish eyes. But what makes you say that right now?"

"Tigress had a baby girl. They knew that, Marloe before Nightfire, but still..." Titania sighed.

"Nothing ever happens around here. I want to see some action," Nomadia smirked when she heard this. She supposed the computer nerds never got to see the light of battle.

"We could tick them off a little more," Nomadia suggested. Titania grinned.

"What did you have in mind?"

**5:55:25 until execution**

Kim and Artica's cell door opened.

"Artica, come out," Titania's red eyes glowed like the countdown.

"I still got six hours."

"Do you want to wait for six hours and die or do you want to be set free?" Artica and Kim exchanged glances, "No tricks, honestly, just a little revenge on our fellow seniors."

"They must've really ticked you off," Artica laughed. Titania shrugged.

"More like we decided not to fake friendship with them," It worked. It actually worked. Kim couldn't believe her luck. She was free without a stratch. She was walking out the door...Titania stopped her.

"Sorry, this invitation is for Artica, and whoever Nomadia's setting free, only," Kim felt like she had been slapped in the face. Artica gave her a sorry look before the door shut and locked behind her. Kim kicked the door, growling. It was her plan! Why wasn't she getting free? Why was Artica going and not her?!

Artica looked at the door a long time. Que lastima. She saw Nomadia bring out Metaphor and together, without an escourt, walked out.

"I feel bad for not feeling bad for ditching them," Artica confided.

"Same here, but Simile comes first, even before them. Who knows what's happened to her?" At the thought, Metaphor started jogging. Artica watched her and wondered why she had a sucks-to-be-her attitude towards Kim.

**3:56:11 until execution**

Marloe could tell from the long string of cursing something was wrong. She hadn't seen Titania nor Nomadia like she usually did between guard shifts. But then she saw Hego and War Hawk stumbling over each other, running away from Fuego and Incendie.

"What are you doing?!" Marloe screamed. Nightfire glared daggars at Marloe.

"They set Artica and Metaphor free, those..." Nightfire let out another string of politically incorrect cuss words.

"Who? Hego and War Hawk?!"

"No! Titania and Nomadia!"

"Now why would they do a thing like that?"

"I don't know, but I'm out of here! Fuego, Incendie, mount up!" The dogs returned, loyally following their master, "I can't even trust my own kind!" Her whole body lit up with fire. Fuego and Incendie glanced at each other, tails hung low.

"You can't leave!"

"Watch me!" And with that, Nightfire left.

Marloe stood, shocked, hurt, and betrayed. She had thought her and Nightfire were cool, too, until Tigress went and told her about Deseerah. She felt they had bonded against the other three and now she was gone and Marloe was going to get blamed for the prisoner break.

**3:53:35 until execution**

Golden Arrow looked up as the door opened.

"Get out," Was all Marloe said, Big Al nestled in her arms, before she stormed away. The door was left ajar. Golden Arrow followed out of curiousity. She was shocked to find Marloe simply get into her van and drive away. That was it. She just left? What was going on?

**1:57:09 until execution**

"Marloe and Nightfire have left," Nomadia reported to Tigress. Tigress was staring out a window at the woods, her tail twitching from side to side.

"Why is that my concern?"

"They freed most of the prisoners. Shego and Kim are all that's left."

"Again, why do I care?" Nomadia's brow furrowed.

"Why wouldn't you care? I mean, they're your prisoners."

"I only really care about Shego," she said absentmindedly. In the blink of an eye, Tigress was in the windowsill. She seemed to be fascinated by something, her eyes darting around.

"Then why the other prisoners? Why was it so important to have the other freshmen?"

"Fodder."

"Fodder?"

"You only came because of Golden Arrow, didn't you? If I said I was going after Shego, you wouldn't give a rat's tail."

"Yes..."

"Then it's your problem to go after Golden Arrow, not mine."

Nomadia knew this shouldn't bug her so much. She was a paid assasin, after all. If her boss had another agenda, why should it concern her? She was being paid. But no, it wasn't quite the same. Her only payment was Goldie's life. Somehow, the fact Tigress was using them to bait Shego to her death bothered her. Maybe Titania felt the same.

**1:12:40 until execution**

"We're being used," Nomadia said bluntly. Titania glanced at her.

"Your point?"

"Don't you feel that that's wrong?" Titania laughed.

"I haven't truly felt in a long time. Since when did you start caring about being so plainly deceived?"

"I don't know, I've never cared about crap like this, but there's something wrong about our only payment being a freshman's life."

"I've worked for cheaper," Titania joked.

"She's using us but she's doing it in a way that...I don't know how to describe it."

"Then don't. Go with the flow."

"Excuse me for worrying about my neck; it's not made of steel," Titania frowned.

"Are you saying Tigress is going to kill us?"

"I'm saying she sure isn't taking any provisions. I'm going, too," Nomadia walked away.

"Running like a coward?" Titania called after her. Nomadia paused.

"No, running like someone who's a vulnerable human. Stay if you like; you certainly have little to loose."

Titania remained where she was, her mind starting to go. What if nothing was going on and Tigress simply didn't want the hassle of bringing everyone back? That was mostly likely the case. Weren't cats lazy? But what if Nomadia was right? What if some other, more dangerous plan was being milled over in Tigress's mind? No one knew that girl's thought pattern besides her obsession with killing Shego.Titania put her hand over her heart. She had never told anyone this, just let them assume she was 100 robot, but some of her vital organs had been saved from her old body. If Tigress had found out that if her vital organs were damaged she would die... That thought alone scared her to Nomadia's side.

**00:21:01 until execution**

Shego's door opened. She looked up, only slightly surprised it was Titania.

"Sounded like a war zone out there," Shego commented. Titania smirked, kneeling down beside Shego.

"No villainess likes knowing they're being used, but when it's so plain you think you can outsmart your boss... What do you think?" Shego shrugged.

"You might as well ask me what I think Deseerah thinks about."

"Bout, booouuuut," Deseerah tried out the sound.

"You were so close to your first word, but I don't think that's close enough to be "boot"," Shego said. Not that boot was a great first word. Titania scratched under Deseerah's chin, who purred.

"So Kim wasn't lying," Titania remarked. Shego felt at ease with Titania, more at ease by far than any other senior, but Titania still held a grudge. If she hadn't have screwed up all those years ago, who knew? Maybe they could've been friends. Shego didn't bring this up for fear of raising Titania's fury. Her moods came and went as did all the seniors.

Titania passed a handgun to Shego. Shego looked it over.

"Let me guess; one shot to off myself?"

"No, two. In case you miss the first time, if your aim hasn't improved in the last few years,"

"How can I miss myself? My aim isn't even that bad," Shego joked. Titania's face suddenly turned serious.

"It's for Tigress. In case you miss Tigress the first time."

&&&&&

Wow, okay, I tried to find the least complicated way to pitch the seniors against each other, free all the prisoners except Shego Kim and Deseerah and still get a chapter up relatively soon. I think I missed, lol. Please review.


	13. Tigress and Shego's final battle

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone but my characters. And FYI, I planned for years for this story, for those who think I'm grabbing stuff out of my butt!

"They should be home by now," Drakken murmured, looking out the window. Night had fallen and still no sign of anyone.

"I've given up on worry. They're always fine; they probably ran off to go party or something," Theygo reassured him. As a mother, she would freak out everytime Shego and her brothers said they were going out to fight crime. They always came home laughing, and she learned they didn't go, fight, and come home. They often went to go mess around for a bit. The door opened and both turned to it.

"My baby!" Theygo cried, unable to stop herself. Hego was badly burned, his shirt singed beyond repair.

"It's nothing, Mom. It's Chloe that's hurt," War Hawk turned her bad arm away self-consciously.

"What happened?" Theygo demanded.

"My arm's broken, that's all," she murmured.

"Let me look at it," Drakken said softly. She looked at him and surrendered.

&&&

Kim felt confused and angry. Confused because she no long knew what was happening. It seemed like all had either left or in Titania's case, planned to betray Tigress. Angry because she was last to escape when it was her plan and Shego was still trying to get her away. She looked at Deseerah, being held out to her by Shego.

"I'm staying," she said clearly and firmly.

"Kim, this was never your fight."

"I'm staying."

"Kim..."

"I'll take Deseerah back to the Go Tower," Titania offered. Shego looked warily at her. Titania put a hand up in the air and the other over her heart, "On my honor."

"That's not much," Shego growled, but what choice did she have? Getting Kim to butt out was like trying to make a pig fly. She looked into Deseerah's beautiful, innocent eyes, "I love you, Dessie. Be good," she whispered, hoping only Deseerah could hear her. Deseerah looked sad and confused.

Shego kissed Deseerah on her forehead and then reluctantly handed her over to Titania.

"Tigress is waiting for you on the roof. Drama queen," Titania left without another word. Shego looked to Kim.

"Shall we?"

They wandered around the lair, trying to find their way. If they kept going up staircases, eventually they should get to the rooftop. As they came closer, Shego looked sadder and sadder. They paused as they came to a hatch. A hatch that couldn't lead to anywhere except the roof.

"You're not going to die," Kim said. Shego shook her head.

"If I don't, then I'll have to kill her."

"No one would blame you. It's self-defense," Kim wasn't usually in favor of murder but... Tigress wouldn't stop. Her whole existence had become trying to kill Shego. She was a danger, a hazard, an animal that needed to be put down for the good of the world.

"Kim, since I might not-"

"Don't say it, you're being pessimistic," Kim tried to make it a joke, but it sounded more like a plea.

"Anyway, I just want to say thanks for the ride," she handed Kim the handgun, "When I ask for it, you throw it to me, okay?"

"Sure," Shego opened the hatch. Kim came right behind her. It was pouring down buckets of rain.

Tigress was standing at the other end. Shego took a deep breath and then lit up her hands. Tigress let out an enraged yowl and sprinted at her. Shego did the same. They met in the middle, their hands clasped together, each trying to force the other down. Lightening flashed. The wind blew harshly. Kim was drenched.

The fight was a blur. All Shego could think of how she didn't want to die, not tonight. The rain was blinding both of them. Tigress was stronger than Shego. She had to do whatever it took to survive. She bit, she pulled hair, she clawed, she screamed in Tigress's ear. She wouldn't die.

Kim waited, horrified by what she could make out, the rain was so thick. They were a tight ball, acting like animals. A flash of lightening illuminated the battle. Tigress looked crazy, out of her mind. Shego looked scared, determined. Kim would've tried to shoot Tigress like she had done Nightfire, except she was afraid she'd shoot Shego.

Tigress was amazed. Shego was lasting a long time, much longer than Tigress thought. She could feel her own strength weakening. Tigress looked into Shego's eyes. She had snapped.

Mischief. Mischief was dead. Mischief was six feet under because of Tigress! Shego flipped Tigress onto her back. Mego, though at home, was still lying in a bed because of her! War Hawk's arm was broken because of her! Shego pinned her to the ground. Her whole high school career was a mess because of her! Rage filled her, taking over all her senses.

Tigress squirmed from under Shego. She was trapped. Why was she trapped? She couldn't be trapped!

"Kim!" Shego yelled. Kim searched through the rain and saw Shego. Not allowing herself to think, Kim threw it to her.

Shego caught it and forced the muzzle under Tigress's chin. Her finger was on the trigger. Tigress showed no remorse, even now.

&&&

"Gego!" Deseerah cried again. Titania smirked.

"Your Gego's not coming back, I betcha. She won't have the guts to kill Tigress," Then Tigress would survive. Shego wouldn't. Then why was she bringing the useless cub back to the Go Tower? Titania pulled over and picked up Deseerah, "Tigress can find you. These are her woods," Titania said, dropping Deseerah and then getting back into her car.

"Geeego!" Deseerah cried out, ducking under a tree to avoid the rain, "Gego! Gego!" She cried out fearfully, feeling something terribly wrong happening.

&&&

Hego's image suddenly popped into Shego's mind. And the twins. And Mischief. Mischief wouldn't want her to do this.

Tigress braced herself as Shego leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"You promise to not hurt my family? Or my friends? Or anyone I care about?" She murmured. Tigress looked at her, "Do you promise?!" Shego snapped.

"Sure, whatever," They were bait anyway. Mere fodder. She was and always had been only interested in Shego's slow and painful death.

Shego dropped the gun and walked away. This was a mistake, she knew it was the minute she did it. But she couldn't kill Tigress, no matter how much pain she had put Shego through. It was wrong. She'd never be able to live with herself.

"You'll never be a true villain. All you'll ever be is a hero," Tigress hissed, reaching for the gun, Shego's back an open target.

"I don't care what you think about me anymore, Tigress," Shego stated.

"Shego!" Kim's warning came too late.

The sound of two gunshots echoed. Shego screamed, falling to the ground. The gun clicked as Tigress aimed and tried to fire again. Kim sprinted to her side.

"Where are you hurt?" Kim shot out.

"Behind...my...knees, I...can't...walk," Shego gasped, trying to keep the tears in her eyes. It hurt, it hurt more than any other gunshot wound she had gotten.

Kim tried to hide her panic. Shego was loosing a lot of blood, fast, and Tigress was coming. Kim grabbed Shego and dragged her towards the hatch. No, not enough time, Kim realized as she saw Tigress coming.

Lightening flashed, temporarily blinding Tigress. She looked around. Shego and Kim were gone.

"I'm sorry," Kim apologized as they hit the ground. She winced at the pain in her abdomen.

"Don't be," Shego breathed, trying to stand. This was embarrassing.

"'Kay then," Kim put an arm around Shego's shoulders and her other supporting her butt, "You can complain later," Kim said as she stumbled towards the woods. Muscle _was_ heavier than fat. She kept off the trail, instead going into the thickest parts. Hopefully Shego had given Tigress a few good hits to keep them on a level playing ground.

Tigress couldn't pick up a scent because of the rain. However, the rain hadn't washed away the trail of blood Shego had left behind.

Shego's hands lit up as she blasted at something. Kim spun around and something grabbed at Shego. A flash of lightening showed it to be Tigress. Kim held on with all her strength, as did Shego (uncomfortably but with no other choice). A claw raked across Kim's face and she let go.

&&&

The phone rang at the Go Tower and Hego eagerly answered.

"Hello?"

"She, She, Shego's gone," A hysterical voice came from the other end. Hego's eyes widened, "I, I'm so sorry."

"Kim, what happened?"

"Ther, there's no time. We, we have to find her, we have to find her and Tigress."

"I'm on my way," Hego hung up without waiting for a response. He grabbed his coat.

"Where are you going off to in this storm?" War Hawk asked as Drakken finished with her cast. It was as good, if not the same, as if she went to the hospital.

"Nowhere," he looked around the room. War Hawk had a broken arm, Mom would go into hysterics like she had when she saw him... "Drakken, could you go with me?"

"Sure," he furrowed his eyebrow, but followed. He waited patiently for Hego to explain as they got into Hego's truck.

"Tigress is somewhere with Shego. I didn't want to try to get specifics from Kim; she seemed very distraught," Hego said, driving out into the storm, not knowing what to expect.

&&&

The storm had come suddenly, Avarius thought as he stumbled around, trying to get back to the Nest. He had been going for a walk and must not have seen the approaching storm clouds. Maybe he should find some shelter and wait for it to pass. Then, he heard it, a voice too faint to tell what it was saying. He went towards it, the opposite direction of his intent. The closer he came, the more he could tell what it was. It was a female's voice, young, almost like a child crying out. The thunder drowned out the word it was yelling.

Then, he heard it clearly.

"DREW!" His name wasn't Drew, but he ran towards the voice on paternal instinct. There, he could see shapes, on the ground, one leaning over the other.

"DREW!" The voice clearly came from the leaning figure. He approached them.

The lightening flashed. The leaning figure was nothing more than a frightened child, hardly old enough to speak. He came closer.

"It's okay, sweetheart, it's all right," he said soothingly. The child looked up at him and he was surprised to see the child was a girl. A girl with cat eyes and fur.

"Drew..." she murmured, looking down at the second figure.

Avarius jumped back in horror as another flash of lightening illuminated the second figure. It was a woman, her eyes closed, her throat torn open.

"Oh dear, oh dear," he murmured. There was a small canvas over her body but as far as Avarius could tell, she was otherwise naked.

"Gego?" The girl asked, batting at the woman's face. Avarius took off his coat and put it around the woman.

"I'm sorry, miss," he said, covering her. She was a mess, a bloody mess that almost made him throw up. What kind of monster had done this to her.

"Gego," The girl said sorrowfully, following Avarius. It was then he realized the distorted, bloody woman was Shego.

&&&

War Hawk was surprised to find her cellphone was on. She pulled it out of her pocket. Her caller id said "dad".

"Daddy?" She asked.

"Yes, Chloe, it's me. I need you to come over. Shego's been attacked," War Hawk's eyes widened.

"What? But, but she was at the lair, or she escaped..."

"I found her in the woods. It doesn't look like she has long."

"I'll be right there, I just have to call-"

"I already called Hego. Him and Drakken are on their way. Please, hurry," Avarius hung up on her.

"Oh no, Shego!" War Hawk cried. Theygo straightened.

"What's wrong?" War Hawk shook her head.

"I think...Dad says she doesn't have long," Theygo frowned.

"Get in the van. I'll get Mego and the twins."

"Should they come?" Theygo looked at her.

"If it is what he says it is, I...think they'll want to see her before..." Theygo bolted towards the stairs and War Hawk went to the van.

&&&

Kim got the message later and went straight to the Nest. She got lost a few times, but finally found Avarius's lair (it wasn't hard to spot). She let herself in and walked down the hallway, her shoes squeaking. She felt guilty, so guilty, and not just because she was getting everything wet. She should never had let Shego go. Shego was going to die because of her. She found the living room. Theygo, Hego, Mego, the twins, and Avarius all looked up as she came in.

"Where is she?" She asked. It was better than saying, "Is she dead?"

"She's in a room a couple doors down. War Hawk and Drakken are trying..." Theygo's voice cracked. She didn't bother to finish. No one else attempted to talk. Mego was glaring at a spot in the carpet, the twins were playing their Gameboys, and Avarius was reading. Mego didn't look well enough to be up and about yet.

An hour passed as Kim stared at the wall, wishing so much for Ron to be there. He had left so abruptly and she hadn't heard from him... She wanted someone to hold her, someone to say it was all right. Why on earth had she broken up with him?! Drakken came in and they all looked up anxiously.

"The surgery went well, incredibly so for a college drop-out and a one-hand nurse," he joked. No one laughed. He sighed, "I'm going to try to sugar-coat it, but I have to be honest. It doesn't look good even with a blood transfusion. It will be a miracle if she survives the night."

"Nooo," Theygo moaned. Hego wrapped his arms around her, "No, no, no, no," Drakken went over and comforted the twins as they started to cry. Mego grew angrier as Avarius became sadder. War Hawk ran in crying, cuddling close to her father.

"Daddy, why?!" She sobbed, sounding like she was four. She knew she did. But she didn't care.

"I don't know, sweetheart," he said honestly. Kim fought back tears. And now why was she going to cry, when Shego and her were archenemies? She should be glad that she was going to die. Silent tears fell anyway. Shego was a good person, despite her flaws. Whatever she had done to Kim couldn't hide that now that Kim had found it out.

"I'm going to kill Tigress," Mego declared, "Kill her in the slowest, most painful way anyone has ever died before."

"Gee, I didn't know you cared about Shego," Theygo joked.

"Of course I do! We all do!" He snapped.

Kim could only put up with it for fifteen minutes and then asked War Hawk where Shego was. War Hawk gave her directions to the room, adding that Deseerah was safe and sound but refused to leave Shego's side. Kim walked down the hall, preparing herself for the worst. She knocked.

"Shego?" She asked, waiting for a response. There was none, "Shego, it's Kim? Can I come in?" Nothing. Kim went in anyway.

There was a bloody canvas and coat on the ground and a bloody cot. A breathing mask was on the pillow, an IV needle with a tube on the bed.

"Shego!" Kim yelled, "Shego!"

And then she saw it. An open window. Shego couldn't have gotten that high up on her own.

&&&&&

Please review.


	14. The news and the wedding

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone but my characters.

Kim waited with Mego and the twins the next evening. War Hawk, Drakken, Theygo, Golden Arrow, Artica, Metaphor, and even Avarius had spread out over Go City searching for Shego and Deseerah, or Tigress even, with every volunteer they could get. There was no news. Hego was in the other room, calling the seniors and Tigress. They strained to hear the conversation, but couldn't even hear the murmur of his voice.

He came out, looking defeated. His eyes were red and he was sniffing. He sank into a chair, composed himself, and then straightened.

"I just got off the phone with Tigress. The reason we haven't been able to find her is because she's left the country," Kim jumped as Hego jerked. Tears ran down his face, "She killed them! She went back while we were out of the room, stole them away, and then killed them!"

"What?" Wego 1 asked sharply.

"Shego and Deseerah are dead!" He yelled, sobbing. Mego and the twins held their brother and cried with him.

Shego was dead. Shego had been murdered.

&&&

"Where did Kim slip off to?" War Hawk asked offhandedly when she came through the door, noticing Kim wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"She went back to London. There's nothing left she can do, or even maybe we could do," Hego sounded depressed. She went over to him and rubbed his back.

"We'll find her."

"She's dead."

"Just because we don't know where she is-" Theygo, Drakken, Golden Arrow, Artica, and Metaphor

"I called Tigress and Tigress said she killed both Shego and Deseerah and took their bodies while we were out of the room," Shocked and sad expressions spread over every face.

"Then where are the bodies?"

"I don't know! I was concentrating on the fact my only sister is dead!"

"I don't believe Tigress then," War Hawk shook her head.

"Why not?"

"Shego's made it through some incredible things that would've killed any normal person. Unless I have her cold, lifeless body in front of me, I'm not going to believe a word that snake says."

"This isn't some fairy tale! Shego's not going to magically come home without a scratch!" Hego yelled.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO GOOD ALWAYS CONQUERS EVIL?!" War Hawk stood on her toes, screaming as loud as she could. Hego, shocked, backed down, "ISN'T THAT WHAT YOU ALWAYS SAY?! ISN'T THAT WHAT ALL THE HEROES SAY?! ISN'T THAT THE WAY IT USUALLY TURNS OUT ONE WAY OR THE OTHER?! THEN HOW CAN TIGRESS WIN?! TELL ME THAT!" War Hawk ran, tears streaming down her face. Shego was alive. She could feel it in her very core, Shego wasn't dead. And no matter how long it took to find her, unless she had stopped breathing and her heart had stopped beating, she would always believe that.

**Three and a half months later**

The day was bright and beautiful. The food looked terrific, the decorations like a fantasy, and all the guests were able to come. Still, War Hawk couldn't get over how wrong her wedding was without her maid of honor. She was dead, she was dead, she was dead was all she ever heard as the months had gone by. But she still believed. Ms. Go, soon-to-be Mrs. Lipsky, came up and hugged her. She looked beautiful, too; her dress was a simple white satin one but very elegant and sophisticated.

"It's going to be fine."

"I know, I just wish she'd show up," Theygo sighed.

"Shego can't be alive. She would've contacted us by now."

"What if she's being held hostage somewhere? Anyway, it's just premaritial jitters, I think," War Hawk said, looking down. Though not believing her, Theygo smiled.

"Look at us, two brides about to go marry our Prince Charmings. That is, if you're sure about marrying Hego."

"Of course I am. I've never been so sure of anything in my life," Theygo nodded approvingly and patted War Hawk on the back.

"You'd think I wouldn't get too excited about this, but I feel as bubbly as an eighteen-year-old," she giggled and walked away.

War Hawk took a deep breath and then followed. Avarius was waiting in his tuxedo.

"Ready, sweetie?"

"Yes," she smiled, pulling down her veil over her face. They linked arms and he led her down the aisle. It was an outdoors wedding on a cliff overlooking the water, the Go Tower a speck. Hego had already walked his mother down the aisle, standing beside Drakken. On the brides' side were Golden Arrow looking absolutely miserable, Artica looking half excited half miserable, and Kim, who just looked excited. Theygo hadn't chosen any bridesmaids. There was a vacant spot where the maid of honor usually was. On the grooms' side was Mr. Dr. Possible as Drakken's best man, and then Duff Killigan and Monkey Fist as his other groomsmen. Mego was Hego's best man and then a couple of Hego's friends she wasn't familiar with as his groomsmen. Wegos 1 and 2 were the ring bearers and they had decided not to have a flower girl.

She felt as if a part of her life was ending and a new one was beginning. In fact, it was. She was going to marry the man of her dreams, and not even Shego's memory could stop her. But it was so painful how this new beginning didn't include her best friend, but her brother. Avarius unwound his arm slowly, lingering at her hand. He looked so sad as he gazed into her eyes.

"I love you, Daddy," she reminded him, kissing him on the cheek.

"I love you, too, my baby girl. Don't fly too far from the nest," he squeezed her hand and then took his seat in the front row. She looked at Hego, who shyly looked away, blushing.

"You're gorgeous," he said sheepishly.

"Well, you're handsome," she didn't know what else to say. The preacher went on with things no one cared about. Vows were exchanged.

War Hawk looked up as Hego lifted her veil in unison with Drakken lifting Theygo's. Theygo nearly knocked over Drakken as she lunged at him in a powerful kiss. War Hawk and Hego laughed and shyly kissed each other.

The reception came. The conversations were a blur. Theygo shoved cake in Drakken's face. And now it was time to eat. War Hawk didn't know who was going to do the toast. Mego tapped his glass and then stood. The room went silent.

"I found this in Shego's drawer one day when I was going through her things; I was bored. It was a toast she had written in case something happened to her," Everyone went even more silent as Mego cleared his throat.

"Dear Hego, War Hawk, Mom, and Dr. D,

I wrote this at 3 a.m. one morning after thinking too much. I probably will be fine, Tigress probably won't kill me, but doing War Hawk and Hego's toast means so much to me I want to take the precaution. I've known Hego all his life, and War Hawk for most of hers. As with any girl who has a brother around her age, I dreamed of the day they would fall in love and I would have my best friend for a sister-in-law. But beyond that, they deserve each other. They both have such big hearts...I've spent a good deal of time trying to keep their hearts from being broken. They are sweet and kind and usually put others before themselves. When I heard of their first date, I cried. It could've been the onion I was peeling, but the relief was tremedous. I do believe in my heart of hearts they belong together. As far as you go, Mom... I know you're worried about hurting my feelings about marrying a man I had a crush on for such a long time. But, honestly, you were never happy with Dad. Even in your wedding pictures, you look sad. But when I see you with Drakken, your eyes light up and you seem so alive. Your happiness is worth more than any crush. Drakken's a good guy and I'm not worried about him. He'll treat you the way you deserve; I'll come after him if he doesn't and he knows this. Don't be too affectionate, please, you guys are in your fourties. Especially in the bedroom.

Love always,

Shego," Many now had tears in their eyes. Hego held up his glass.

"To my annoying older sister," he joked. Theygo lifted her glass.

"To a pain-in-the-butt daughter," she laughed. Drakken lifted his glass.

"To an uncaring co-worker," War Hawk lifted hers.

"To a best friend," They went around the room and each said their relation to Shego, because everyone there had one.

"To Shego!" They all laughed as they clinked glasses together.

&&&

Kim dialed the number she knew by heart, swallowing her pride. Two rings and then she heard Ron's voice, "Hello?"

"Hey, Ron."

"KP? What's up?" Kim took a deep breath.

"Shego was right, about everything she said about us."

"That I'm a buffoon?"

"No. She said it was a mistake. She said I was an idiot for breaking up with you. She predicted I would get back together with you. Ron, I'm so sorry, I was acting like such a biscuit. Forgive me?"

"Always," Kim paused a minute.

"So, we're a couple again?" She asked.

"Yeah," There was a pause on the other line, "I had the weirdest dream about Shego's daughter last night."

"Shego's daughter?"

"I know, and Shego's dead, but I had one of those dreams that are so real... It was like a prophecy."

"What about Shego's daughter?"

"It was in some small town. Tigress was being suffocated, she was dying in some invisible grasp by some shadow. I couldn't see her, but I knew it was Shego's daughter. I talked to Sensei and Yori about it because Honna's been having the same dream, I think, I don't speak toddler, but anyway they think it's a prophecy."

"Really?"

"You must think I'm loosing my mind."

"Never, Ron," Kim did begin to wonder if Deseerah was really dead. Was this really a prophecy? Ron wouldn't make something like this up, especially with that tone.

&&&&&

Next chapter will be the last chapter. Yeah, I know Ron kind of dropped out of the story, but I didn't feel he was necessary to the plot line that much. Please review.


	15. Epiloge or one year later

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone but my characters.

**One year later**

"Kim, we've been friends and dating for a long time now..." Ron began. They were in her dorm room watching a romantic movie.

"Yeah," Kim's eyes didn't leave the screen.

"So I was thinking, once we get out of college, maybe..." Rufus came out of Ron's pocket, placing a vending machine ring in her hand. She looked down and saw a plastic yin-yang symbol looking up at her, "I don't have the money right now, so I got this promise ring, it's not even a real promise ring. I guess you think this is pretty stupid..."

"Yes," she said softly.

"Yes, this is stupid?"

"No, yes I will marry you. Eventually," she teased. Ron smiled and they kissed.

&&&

Hego, War Hawk, Mego, and the twins were in the waiting room of the Go City hospital, quietly talking amongst themselves.

"DREW I'M GOING TO KILL YOU FOR PUTTING ME THROUGH THIS!" They heard Theygo scream. War Hawk faced twisted.

"I'm not sure about this anymore," she murmured. Hego laughed.

"I think it's a little too late," he joked, hugging her and her buldging stomach, "You'll be a great mother."

"And you'll be a great father, but you know I have a low tolerance for pain and that..." she motioned towards the room where Theygo was screaming, "...that sounds painful."

"I think she plays it up," Mego put in his opinion. Then, Drakken burst out of the delivery room in his scrubs, scaring everyone.

"IT'S A GIRL, A LITTLE BABY GIRL!" He cheered, jumping up and down.

"Congratulations," Hego said. A nurse came out.

"Mr. Lipsky, we're not done yet," she laughed. Drakken's eyes widened.

"Seriously? There's more?" He practically pushed her out of the way as he charged back in.

"Someone's excited about being a father," Wego 1 commented. Wego 2 nodded. A few minutes later, Drakken came running back out.

"I HAVE A SON!" He nearly fell as he turned on his heels, running back into the delivery room. A few more minutes came and he came back out, nearly hyperventilating.

"ANOTHER SON! IT'S TRIPLETS!" This time, he did fall as he turned, but he was right back up on his feet in the blink of an eye. Ten minutes passed and Drakken came out, grinning ear to ear.

"I have two daughters and two sons. I am the luckiest man on earth," he collapsed. They all stood. The nurse came out and laughed.

"I think he's just oxygen-deprived. Honestly, I've never seen someone so excited about having a single baby, let alone quadruplets."

"Quadruplets? Poor mom," Mego snickered. Drakken revived after a half-hour as a wail came from Theygo's room. He got to his feet and slowly entered the room.

Theygo was cradling the four babies in her arms, smiling down at them. One of the girls was crying, which was making one of her brothers fussy. The other two were calm, not asleep, but calm. Theygo looked up at Drakken, glaring playfully.

"I hate you," she said. He crept next to her side, almost forgetting to breathe.

"They're perfect," he whispered. Theygo looked up at Drakken and remembered the reason why she wanted to have more children. He was going to spoil them rotten.

"They're yours. I'm never going to take them away from you," she promised, remembering what had happened to his other son and daughter.

"Can I?" He squeaked. She laughed and nodded. He picked up the crying daughter and began doing a bounce-rock motion, "It's okay, it's okay, Daddy's here. He's never going to let anything happen to you," he promised. She began to calm down from the individual attention.

"No more Gos," Theygo said.

"What?"

"I am not going to have anymore children that their name has "Go" in it. Other than that, go at it," Drakken looked down at the girl in his arms.

"Carmen Ann," he looked at Theygo. She shrugged. He was surprised she actually accepted it. He looked at the fussing boy, "He needs a butch name, I think."

"What do you think about Tomik?" Theygo asked.

"Perfect! Tomik Alexander, how regal," he looked down at the other daughter. She needed a special name, he felt. The way she was looking around with her blue eyes in wonder... And then a memory struck him. The memory of a woman turned into a four-year-old girl, her arms wrapped around him, begging him that once she was an adult again they could date.

"Cassandra Kathleen, Cassy Kat for short," A bittersweet smile came across Theygo's face. Drakken grinned, "Cassandra Kathleen," he repeated.

"And he will be Andrew Lloyd," she motioned to the other son, who was starting to drift off.

"I like that name," Drakken looked behind himself to see Hego standing there. The Go brothers filed in to meet their half siblings, with War Hawk not far behind.

"Could you hold her, please? I need to make a call," Drakken asked. Wego 2 reached up and Drakken handed Carmen to him. He cradled her as though she was made of glass, supporting her head. Drakken excused himself from the room and pulled out his cellphone, pressing speed dial. Four rings and then an answering machine.

"You have reached the lair of PROFESSOR DEMENTOR. Please leave a message AFTER THE BEEP!!!" The beep went off.

"I know you think that I gave up on world conquest. Well, I did, for something much more important. You see, my _wife_ just had _my_ quadruplets. Yeah, you heard me right. I have a wi-ife and two so-ons and two daugh-ters and you've got squa-at," he sang, "You want to know why you don't have a wi-ife or two so-ons or two daugh-ters? BECAUSE YOU'RE LAAAAAAAMMMEEEEE! WITH A CAPITAL "L"! OHHHH, BURN! Anyway, I just thought you'd want to hear from your old rival. I need to go call everyone else now, because I'm a father!" He hung up and began to dial Killigan's number.

&&&

Shego couldn't believe all she had gone through in the past year or so. It had taken countless surguries just to keep her alive. She still couldn't believe that Global Justice had saved her. She felt like a monster, with all of the scars Tigress had left her with. But worst of all was the fact that GJ had forbidden her to make any contact with friends or family. She knew Dr. Director was just watching out for her safety, but she felt like an escapee, being forced to hide because of how easily Tigress could find and kill her.

She smiled, watching Deseerah pick dandelions. Deseerah looked back, smiled, and waved. Shego waved back. Deseerah loved having a backyard to play in now that they had moved to a house in a 500 population town that didn't even have its own school. It was a nice change from the underground GJ headquarters they had been living in, Shego hooked up to several machines just to make sure she would survive. Deseerah had charmed every staff member, even Dr. Director, and many had requested that Shego become a member of GJ just so Deseerah could stay. Shego wasn't quite ready to make the full transition to good guy yet and Deseerah was practically glued to Shego's side.

"She's starting to walk on two legs a lot more," Dr. Mary Gaylord, Shego's at-home nurse Dr. Director had demanded she have, commented. His name fit his personality; his sparkling blue eyes always held a light in them, his short black hair spiked up, his perfectly manicured hands and designer clothes. Shego had only recently found out that he was, despite her initial thoughts, not batting for the other team.

"Yeah, and she must learn a hundred new words a day," Shego's voice had become gravelly and unclear due to the injuries to her throat. She covered her neck scars self-consciously.

"How are your legs today, Miss Go?" He asked.

"Fine. You'd think I'd get used to being in a wheelchair, but I'm still trying to grasp this concept that I may never walk again."

"You may. Those bullets to the back of your knees were very powerful if they shattered your kneecaps. Your right thigh is almost completely gone and your left is only half there," Shego cringed at the memory. If Deseerah hadn't come, who knew how much Tigress would've eaten, which was an idea so repulsive she gagged, "You okay?"

"No. Anyone who eats a human for pleasure should die," he laughed and then kissed Shego on the cheek.

"It's okay now, Shego, she won't find you with GJ on your side," Deseerah jumped onto Shego's lap, growling at Dr. Gaylord an inch away from his face, teeth bared.

"No! No kissy!" Deseerah snarled. Shego laughed.

"It's okay, Dessie."

"She my mommy!" Dr. Gaylord put his hands in the air.

"Fair enough,"

"She my mommy. I kiss her, not you," Deseerah stated.

"Dessie, be nice."

"I don't like him, he talk funny."

"Deseerah!"

"You my mommy. I 'ove you," Deseerah murmured, cuddling into Shego. Shego wrapped her arms around her and kissed her.

"I love you, too, baby. But it's okay if other people kiss me, too."

"No, you mine," Deseerah growled. Shego sighed.

"You are really going to have letting-go issues, aren't you?"

&&&

Yori waited at the doorway, seeing Sensei meditating.

"It's all right to come in, Yori," he said. Yori approached and then bowed respectively.

"Master Sensei, I'm worried about Stoppable-san. He and Honna keep having that dream about Shego's daughter," Sensei nodded.

"It seems as though they are seeing into the future. A vision of what is to come."

"What does it mean, Sensei?" Yori's voice cracked with concern.

"I have had visions too of this, a girl who can kill without even touching. She is the Prodigy, a being so powerful she could kill us all or she could be this world's savior. It all depends on what she decides."

"Is it true? Is it true that it is Shego's daughter that is the Prodigy?" Sensei nodded.

"The Prodigy daughter has already been born."

**The End**

Yeah, I thought after all this everyone should have a semi-happy ending, even though I've heard some requesting Kim and Ron don't get back together. So, will Tigress ever find Shego? What happened in Theygo's past that makes her so wary of Mrs. Dr. Possible? Most importantly, will Deseerah grow up to be good...or like her mother? All of these questions and more will be answered in the last installment of the Finals series (don't I sound official ;)?). Review and tell me what you want to see happen in the next story (or if I totally screwed up with this story).


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